3 minute read | July.27.2023
Organizations host events that vary in scale, scope and logistics. Teams put enormous resources into planning to ensure a successful event. Unfortunately, an unanticipated accident or other catastrophic incident can negatively impact the audience experience. To mitigate the risks associated with such unanticipated accidents or incidents, a company should consider a variety of factors during the planning stage.
A client recently sought advice from Orrick’s Employment team about best practices aimed at reducing risk associated with company events. The team thought it would be beneficial to share insights on that topic more broadly.
The precise steps a company should consider may vary based on the scale of the event, inherent risks and other commercial considerations. Regardless of the size and scale of the event, the starting point for proper planning begins with a risk assessment associated with the nature of the event, the audience and the venue. After that, a company should consider various pre-event risk mitigation steps as well as incident response steps to be taken should a catastrophic accident or incident occur.
Here are five things a company might consider before an event to mitigate risk – and five incident response steps to consider should a catastrophic accident or incident occur.
1. Focus on Contracts
Review contracts / agreements for all event vendors, collaborators, and the venue to consider factors such as:
2. Review Insurance Provisions
3. Assess Security and Emergency Services
4. Communicate with Attendees
5. Refine Your Reputation Management and Communications Strategy
It may be helpful to have a playbook that walks the team through the following considerations:
In the event a company experiences a catastrophic event-related accident or incident, Orrick has a Crisis Management Team consisting of lawyers and communications experts with broad and deep experience managing such incidents. For further information about this team please contact Aravind Swaminathan, Jim Stengel, John Wolfe or David Chamberlin.