How resilient is your team, organization and event in the face of uncertainty in today’s global risk society? Never before has the festivals and events industry faced the level of uncertainty that we will face in the coming weeks, particularly for those organizers and producers who will have to make the “hard call” in the coming weeks – whether to postpone or cancel their event in in light of the global COVID-19 pandemic.
The inaugural ERMS and Blerter 2020 survey report into risk, readiness and resilience of the events industry is both timely and important. The 2020 Event Preparedness and Resilience Survey Report provides a detailed analysis and collective insights into our industry’s preparedness and resilience based on the shared responses of over 160 industry leaders across 11 countries.
The key takeaway for me from the report is that event organizers must continue to strengthen their current risk management practices (often adhoc) through adopting a structured approach to risk management – this is as simple as identifying and documenting risks in a risk register. A surprising statistic from the report is that less than 17% of the respondents had documented their risks including the impacts from these risks to the achievement of their mission. The preparedness and resilience of the events industry to future adverse events and crises will continue to be influenced by the ability of event organizers to make effective risk-based decisions under uncertainty.