March 23, 2026
Every event organizer knows that even a perfect plan is no match for reality: what do you do when a speaker misses their flight, a laptop won’t connect to the projector, or the Wi-Fi suddenly gives out? Seasoned planners come to expect these “known surprises”—real risk mitigation entails both diligent preparation and practical live reaction.
While you can’t avoid every speed bump, you can change how you handle them. The goal is to meet any challenge with the systems and the mindset to pivot in steady, quiet confidence.
At Whova, we’ve built tools to help you reduce risk and manage live variables on the fly. Send out Announcements to keep attendees informed of any real-time changes—or try our recently revamped Announcement Wall to showcase updates on your venue screens. We also offer Release and Consent Forms to help you manage paperwork and maintain compliance, ensuring everyone who checks in has signed your forms.
Recently, we sat down for an Event Insider live panel with three experts who’ve got risk management down to a science:
- James “Jim” Beatty, Founder of the African American Golf EXPO and Forum
- Kim Glenn, Managing Director of Innovative Learning Solutions at Educational Data Systems, Inc. (EDSI)
- Michelle Scanlon, Executive Director of the New York State Occupational Therapy Association (NYSOTA)
These organizers have dealt with everything from major schedule changes to cancelled catering. They’ve learned that a mix of smart budgeting, structured groundwork, and a calm demeanor is the best risk mitigation a planner can have.
Read on for an in-depth guide to handling the unexpected and keeping your event on track.
1. Budget Proactively and Conservatively
The best way to handle extra expenses is to address them before they become a crisis in the first place. Keeping a contingency fund on hand is smart, but the ultimate goal is to structure your planning so you never actually have to touch it.
Much of your risk savings can actually be built directly into your budgeting details—not just by setting aside a vague “X” amount for anything unknown. A 5% to 10% reserve is a solid benchmark depending on your event’s scale, but you can get even more specific in your planning. By practicing conservative forecasting and overestimating potential costs for each line item, you’ll create a natural buffer that protects your bottom line from the start.
And if an extra cost does come up on-site, don’t just accept the overage. With the right level of preparedness, you can meet an expected challenge with the agency and capability to re-balance your budget on the spot. Expert Michelle Scanlon suggests offsetting the cost of unexpected fees by scaling back in other areas, such as cutting down on one gallon of coffee. You’ll need a working line-by line knowledge of your budget for these cases.
Also, make sure to understand the terms of your contracts clearly. Familiarity with these terms may help if you need to negotiate later on. For example, if a third party badge-printing service delivers blurry badges, you may have to advocate to hold the vendor accountable for the cost of the reprint.
“During the budgeting phase, we deliberately underestimate our revenue and overestimate expenses to build a cushion into every event budget…that baked-in margin can absorb some of the surprises.”
– Michelle Scanlon, Executive Director of NYSOTA
“The goal is not just to have extra funds on hand in case something happens, it’s to protect the decision speed…when something shifts, the important thing is that we can respond immediately and with confidence.”
– Kim Glenn, Managing Director of Innovative Learning Solutions at EDSI
2. Anticipate “Known Surprises”
Unforeseen challenges should only be unforeseen once. While you can’t predict with absolute certainty every cost or challenge that may arise, many hurdles are actually recurring themes in the world of large events.
These are your known surprises, such as speakers or panelists not being able to attend, costly A/V additions, badges or signage that need reprinting, sudden internet bandwidth issues, or last-minute venue space changes. Although scenarios like these are far from guaranteed, they’re well within the realm of possibility, which means they can—and should—be planned ahead for. For example, this could look like designating back-up speakers who are ready to step in if a primary presenter falls through.
Level up your preparation with a formal, structured framework. Expert Kim Glenn even conducts a “pre-mortem” exercise early in the planning process. Unlike a traditional post-mortem that looks at what went wrong after the fact, Kim’s team identifies any potential risks at the start and divides them into categories:
- Operational
- Financial
- Vendor-related
- Legal and compliance
- Cybersecurity and technology
To determine planning priority, they look at risk likelihood and impact formulaically, then outline escalation and communication steps. They also assign a specific “owner” to every risk to clearly identify responsibility.
– Kim Glenn, Managing Director of Innovative Learning Solutions at EDSI
“Things still surprise me, but they’re planned surprises if you will, in that we have encountered them before so we know how to deal with them. No big deal: take a deep breath, move on, and do what you need to do.”
– James “Jim” Beatty, Founder of the African American Golf EXPO and Forum
3. Event Tech as Your Real-Time Safety Net
Even the best laid-plans must account for live variables. Event technology helps you maintain a high degree of on-site flexibility to keep up. When faced with a complication, using real-time data to guide your decisions helps you move past frantic damage control and get right to strategic course-correction.
Take a common day-of incident: three sessions suddenly end up out of commission due to speaker emergencies. Rather than guessing how to fill those gaps, you can rely on Whova Session RSVP data to gauge how high-demand other topics are. If you have other sessions with waitlists or interest that exceeds their capacity, you can simply re-run those popular workshops to fill the vacant slots—simultaneously solving your scheduling gap and maximizing attendee satisfaction.
The key is ensuring that your attendees aren’t left confused at the door. Transparent, proactive communication is vital, and an event app makes this effortless. When there is a shift in your schedule, update the agenda immediately and send out an Announcement to clearly inform attendees of the change. This keeps everyone in the loop, ensuring professionalism and credibility.
Additionally, event technology gives you options beyond in-person attendance. If severe weather or travel restrictions threaten to affect turnout, a robust virtual or hybrid platform allows you to keep your program’s momentum going online. To maximize value, consider recording your breakout sessions for asynchronous consumption and coaching hybrid presenters on how to engage both live and remote audiences effectively.
If an emergency puts gathering in person out of the question at the last minute, a full pivot to online is a viable—if not ideal—solution to save the event. One smart idea is to bridge the gap with a dedicated in-person follow-up later on, where attendees can share how sessions went and what they learned.
– Kim Glenn, Managing Director of Innovative Learning Solutions at EDSI
4. When It Comes to A/V, Take No Chances
Audio/visual (A/V) equipment is often one of the most unpredictable variables of any event, so make sure you designate people who know how to troubleshoot. Having one or more A/V professionals onsite is typically essential. In addition to the technicians, you can also put together a team of A/V-skilled volunteers or room monitors to handle minor issues before they escalate.
Our experts recommend conducting a full tech rehearsal and walkthrough before the event to minimize surprises. This helps ensure presenters know their rooms and layouts, how to find and set up their equipment, and who to ask for help if something goes wrong. Similarly, you’ll need a clear communication channel, like a Whatsapp group chat or walkie-talkies, so the team can quickly deploy assistance when needed.
While help is critical, you can also reduce external dependencies wherever possible by building a reusable event kit. Invest in your own projectors, adapters, and even presentation remotes, and keep a stock of essentials like batteries and phone chargers on hand year after year.
Leave nothing to chance: confirm internet bandwidth capacity and verify adapter compatibility well before the first session begins. Plus, it never hurts to have a last resort no-tech pivot—keep a printed copy of each presentation at the front of the room just in case.
– James “Jim” Beatty, Founder of the African American Golf EXPO and Forum
5. Keep Calm and Pivot On
If and when something does go sideways, your demeanor is one of the most powerful tools at your disposal. If you can remain calm and collected on the spot, you can turn a potential meltdown back into a minor hiccup.
Sometimes, being honest and adding a little humor is the best way to save the moment. For example, if the catered lunch never shows up, don’t let the room sit in stress. Address the group directly, share a joke if appropriate, and move forward as best you can. Expert Jim Beatty experienced this exact scenario; he kept attendee spirits high by acknowledging the situation, lightheartedly “blessing the food wherever it is,” and announcing that the funds attendees paid for the meal would be donated to a worthy cause instead.
Your calm is contagious. Everyone is looking to the event organizer—if you panic, the team and presenters will lose their cool too. Your job is to lead with composure and stability while you quickly tweak the game plan. Flexibility and confidence are key here on top of preparedness. When you handle an unexpected situation with a smile, the audience stays on your side.
– Michelle Scanlon, Executive Director of NYSOTA
In Conclusion: Plan Strategically, Adapt Gracefully
At the end of the day, successful event management is about your reaction as much as it is about your preparation. You can’t predict every variable, but you can control the systems you set in place to handle whatever comes your way.
Learn from past incidents, identify common day-of surprises, and develop layers upon layers of back-up plans. Use your planning time to budget conservatively and put together a strong team, trained on exactly what strategies to deploy and how to communicate as situations evolve.
Want more expert advice on how to plan and execute events with confidence? Find other Event Insider topics on our YouTube channel.