Asked to share her experience averting disaster when the weather threatens to ruin event plans, Allison recalls how quick thinking and great partnerships resulted in a seamless guest experience during a snowstorm.
“My client’s big fund-raising gala coincided with the snowstorm that shut down New York last November. As we watched the snow pile up on the ground the hour before doors opened, we realized it was not going to be the light dusting that was forecasted. We had to completely reorganize the evening’s program, rewriting parts of the script onsite with the celebrity host, swapping in new speakers for those who couldn’t make it, and creating new graphics to accommodate those replacement speakers. Guests were kept at the cocktail reception for an extra 90 minutes while we waited for all the inductees to arrive, some of whom traveled nearly three hours to get there. Communication was key to our success that night—constantly checking in with the venue, catering, audiovisual, and the client allowed everyone to continually pivot as conditions changed. It was a hectic night, and the overtime bills were painful, but everyone had a great time in the end.”
Allison Pieter, independent event producer, Los Angeles