Event management can be one of the most harrowing responsibilities in any communications pro's job description. As Rich Roher discovered this month, the unexpected can throw a
wrench in your plans at any time. This week's strategy: Staying calm and thinking on your feet to preserve an event's impact - and a client relationship.
Roher Public Relations had scheduled a product launch demo for consumer electronics giant Kenwood at the New York restaurant Typhoon. Perhaps the team should have taken a cue
from the location's ominous name. The day before the demo, which about 50 members of the press were scheduled to attend, the manager called Roher to alert him that the New York
City Health Department was at the restaurant and had discovered that the kitchen's refrigerators were not cold enough. The department issued a violation, closing the restaurant
for at least 24 hours - and prohibiting it from holding the Kenwood event.
Roher immediately jumped into crisis management mode. The product Kenwood was launching is called Music Keg, a high-capacity digital audio system for cars that stores around
2,500 MP3 songs. Typhoon had been booked because it ws the only restaurant/brewery in midtown Manhattan, and the theme was a summer "kegger." So, the typical hotel ballroom or a
different type of restaurant would take away from the impact of the themed event.
Roher enlisted Typhoon's manager to contact appropriate restaurants in the neighborhood to see if they could handle the kegger. He himself began contacting membership and
eating clubs, while the client contacted the catering manager at the Warwick Hotel (where client personnel were staying for the event).
Within 60 minutes of the first phone call, the team had identified three locations within walking distance of the original location where they could move the event. They opted
for the Warwick's wood-paneled Randolph's Too bar, which would preserve the "kegger" theme. A lift-gate truck moved the demo displays from the Typhoon, and before noon, Roher
personnel had alerted attendees to the change in venue.
Another savvy tactic: Roher personnel recorded their voicemail greetings with a warning of the change in locale and also left cell phone numbers for any confused attendees to
call.
For all appearances to the media in attendance, the event went off without a hitch. But the near-disaster had Roher on his toes: "After the event had been going about an hour,
the skies opened with a tremendous summer thunderstorm. I turned to the client and said, 'What's next? Blood, boils, pestilence?'" (Rich Roher: 914/238-2200 ext. 303, [email protected])