My Event Was Cancelled or Postponed. Now What?

It is said that working in the events industry is one of the most stressful jobs out there. There are a lot of things you should expect if you want to work in the events industry.

It doesn’t matter whether you have a tent rental business or offering wedding tent rental packages. You will encounter all kinds of event situations which you need to anticipate and prepare for.

The reality of event organizing

Planning an event is no easy task. Event organizers need to lay everything down to ensure that the event itself achieves its goals and objectives without any disruptions. They basically carry the entire weight of the event’s outcome.

For one thing, they have to coordinate with multiple suppliers as well as deal with last-minute changes. It can either be a successful one or a traumatic nightmare for the participants and the organizers as well.

There is no easy job, regardless of what kind of job you have. It’s all about making a personal choice about what kind of career path to pursue. Some prefer less stressful jobs. Others thrive in high-pressure jobs, including those who have event rental businesses or offering wedding rental packages.

Everyone should be able to anticipate sudden changes or emergencies. It doesn’t matter which industry you belong to, anything can happen in our line of work.

The impact of postponed/cancelled events

If you have been in the events industry long enough, you have already encountered event cancellations. Most of the time, such event postponements aren’t the event organizers’ fault. It is usually because of uncontrollable instances like natural disasters, disease outbreaks, or any other safety hazards.

Regardless of the reason, event postponements or cancellations can be very stressful. Imagine all of the efforts you and your team have already done. From hiring staging and dance floor rentals and other suppliers to promoting the event, it can elicit a lot of reactions, especially from the supposed attendees.

Now that COVID-19, unfortunately, is in full swing, countless events all over the world either had to postpone or cancel. For one thing, we should not downplay the impact of this pandemic. As of date, there are already more than 510,000 cases all over the world. So far, more than 23,000 already succumbed to this deadly disease.

Dealing with event postponements and cancellations

If you have a cancelled or postponed event due to the Coronavirus, you are not alone. Even the NBA and prestigious marathons were not exempt from the wrath of the virus. A lot of events have faced some kind of challenges before, but not to this extreme.

This means a lot of impact, especially in the events industry. From the logistics to the budget, cancelled or postponed events can be a major cause of stress and headache. However, we can only hope that this too shall pass and everything will go back to normal.

Event cancellations or postponements are only for worst-case scenarios. In this case, these are absolutely necessary due to the threat of the COVID-19 virus. Event organizers can choose either to cancel or postpone the event at a later date. That said, it’s not necessarily the end of your event – it will still depend on the management’s decision.

However, you should still consider the impact of your decision to either postpone or cancel. If you decide to postpone, when are you planning to reschedule or resume the event? Will it affect other events that will also be scheduled on those dates? What will your plans be if in case something inevitable happens during that time (ex. hurricane, safety concerns, etc.)

If you choose the latter, how are you going to deal with the expenses (ex. for outdoor party rentals, etc.)? Will there be a refund process for the attendees? How are you going to explain and apologize to the public why you decided to cancel? Will there still be a way to come up with an alternative event as a replacement for the cancelled event?

What will happen next?

Due to the cancellations and postponement of events for March, April and May; this means the rest of the year will be increasingly busy for most of your vendors, if not completely booked. This can be an opportunity for event organizers to plan ahead and help those events to push through successfully.

Meanwhile, there are others who have decided to throw virtual events like virtual runs and event live streams. This means the original event may have been scrapped, but at least the event objective is still met.

Event changes can be a source of stress and headache among event organizers. Event rentals in Maryland may also experience the impact of event cancellations or postponements.

These cancellations and postponements, unfortunately, happen all the time at no fault to the event organizer. We are here to help you navigate these difficult decisions in any way possible. At the end of the day, it’s the attendees’ and personnels’ safety that should be top priority for every event planning list.

If you are questioning whether to cancel or postpone your event, whether due to a mass gathering ban, disaster or any other unfortunate circumstance, evaluate your options and talk with your vendors. We are all in this together and we are able to speak with and to coordinate the best possible action.