I’ve been providing Live Webcasting services at hundreds of events over the years – and most of them go off without a hitch. As a service provider providing an essential communication service that is technically complex, I have experienced anxiety and “event stress” whenever there is poor or lacking communication from clients and event planners, especially when it is provided at the very last minute or someone switches gears unexpectedly.
The worst situations occur when there is a combination of any of the following circumstances…
A. Waiting until the last minute to give important details about the event:
This lack of coordination and disorganization results in an unnecessary frantic pace when trying to pull off an event at the last minute. I, like many other service providers, appreciate getting organizational and technical details well in advance, preferably 2-3 weeks or more before the event date. In order to be fully prepared and to do our best job we need to not only prepare for various customized setups but also to make logistical arrangements well in advance.
Preparations that occur in the morning before the job, are generally doomed to failure – and believe me, that is more stressful for me than my client – because when/if something goes wrong due to poor information, guess who is blamed?
The event week (and certainly not the event day) is not the time to be providing the what/how/where/when details to the vendor. Last minute details severely increase the level of stress for the vendors, because they are unfortunately concentrating on getting the correct information and less on the prep work that they need to be doing.
And here’s a thought – if the service provider is stressed, they are not functioning at 100% efficiency. And guess who that will impact – YOU!
B. Book another Gig when the first invoice is not yet paid:
When vendors have been waiting for a payment, it’s certain they’ll be anxious to receive compensation. By right, the first payment should also include payment for the next upcoming event as well. Ambiguity and lateness of payments definitely brings more anxiety.
C. Trying to decrease payment while keeping the project specs unchanged for same type of event:
From one gig to the next, the payment should not decrease if the job requirements are similar. If the conditions, the remote audience size, and circumstances are basically the same job, then it’s not fair to ask the performer to work less time for less money. Vendors will have a hard time gathering the excitement to produce the same level of work if the gig just became a lot harder to work because of less time involved, as well as less compensation. Then for the vendor, it becomes more about surviving the gig. In fact, I would tend to refuse to undertake the next job since that often betrays a lack of ethical behaviour.
D. Make excuses for inaction and lateness:
“I’m sooo sorry – I was on vacation”. Yes, we all take time out from our work, but this is not an excuse for not providing info, coordination, and communication to your service provider.
E. Slow communication response (or a lack of it):
It gets more aggravating when there is no (or slow) response to emails or phone calls over long periods of time, especially while slated events are on the table. The best solution would be to have someone else cover your responsibilities when you’re gone.
F. Fail to Uphold Promises:
“Oh, we don’t want to pay for this or that feature so we’ll provide you with _x,y,z_, no problem!” …and then when it comes to the time the service provider needs help critically, sometimes the planner is nowhere in sight, or even worse, they do not have the resources available to resolve the incident. While service providers know how to “make do” in situations, they may not have the equipment on hand or have it incorporated into their tech setup – this may result in a patchwork solution that may not give the best results.
G. Not Being Agreeable or Communicative:
Most issues don’t have the ability to work themselves out on their own by being silent. By not communicating to vendors when there is any disagreement on the table, things will fester and add to a stress-producing relationship. Smile, be friendly, and approach the tough topics in the moment, and don’t gloss anything over, but do so in a cooperative atmosphere that is focused on solving problems rather than laying blame. If need be, tell your vendor that any issues can be taken off line after the event. At least you’ve said something. And don’t forget, many technical issues can (and sometimes do) occur, through no fault of anyone.
A recent example was when the Internet connection at a hotel failed due to their servers melting down. The client was SO agitated that he blamed us for the interruption in the webcast, despite the fact that it was made abundantly clear that providing the Internet connection was the sole responsibility of the event venue (and the client). Needless to say, there was a huge to-do during the event with the client raving and threatening a lawsuit, which they later backed of from after we showed them the agreement that they had signed, giving them the responsibility for providing a reliable Internet connection. (Btw, it was not really the hotel’s fault either, since the cause of the meltdown was a fire in their IT banks – call it an act of God). Needless to say, after that stressful incident (which we could have probably worked around if there had been no drama) we never worked with that client again.
STRESS – it can kill you (and me) – but it will certainly kill your event if you let it!
Article paraphrased from: Patrick Duffek’s blog, Event LightNing Mobile Apps, Small Business Growth