Keeping Your Promotion Business or Nonprofit Prepared for Emergencies

Takeaway: Keeping your operations going with as little disruption and loss as possible.

The following are elements of a basic business, nonprofit or event Emergency Preparedness Plan:

1. Decide who will manage the operations in case of emergency.  This person should be thoroughly trained and be a cool deliberate decision maker.  Assemble all of the important contact information for key managers.   Have a back-up person designated in case the Emergency Manager is unavailable.  Not taking this step was identified as a significant problem that contributed to the Indiana State Fair Tragedy.

2.  Assemble (in redundant formats, hard copies as well as technological) emergency information of local authorities including police, medical, fire, insurance and weather.

3.  Conduct a Risk Assessment: define what needs to be protected; people, equipment including stages, lighting, sound, tents etc., venue or office facilities, activities such as a midway, tents and all other valuable assets.  Risks generally fall under natural or man-made, severity from life threatening/non-life threatening.  You may find a complete analysis guide in the Security Chapter in our book Successful Secrets of Concert, Festival and Special Events Productions.  Juan Farach, the Emergency Management Coordinator of the City of Sunrise, Florida recommends "You can never plan for or afford assets for every single possibility that might happen, however, your guiding principal should be what is most likely to happen and how can we deliver the most assistance to the most people/assets first?"

4.  For your business or nonprofit, develop team members who on a regular basis, review your Emergency Plan and make revisions.  It is especially important to keep contact information updated.  Update  the master list of employee emergency information as people join or leave the organization.  Periodically, at least every six months, update each persons' contact lists.  People often move or change telephone numbers, especially cells.  

5. Share the costs and resources with those who share the same risks.  For example, other businesses or organizations in your building, building managers, neighbors or local CERT (Citizens Emergency Response Teams) groups.

6.  Analyze and determine which operations are a priority to safeguard and/or restore, who will manage those activities, steps to accomplish and what assets will be needed such as funds, technology, supplies and personnel.

7.  Assemble, again in multiple formats, lists of critical suppliers, business contacts, vendors of supplies that you need and contractors such as IT, staging, lighting, sound, building or electrical.

8.  Cyber Security: regularly back up critical files, have a backup computer at special events as well as at your primary business location.  Keep your software protection updated and have your hardware secured also.  Especially keep track of memory sticks, who has them and what they are allowed to store.

9.  Develop a "shelter in place" plan as well as evacuation plans.  For shelter in place, designate the safest room in the building and equip it with supplies such as water, food, first aid, communications devices such as weather radios and other materials to weather the emergency.  For each office, venue or even your own home, identify how to efficiently evacuate all persons if need be, how long it will take to accomplish the operation, what impediments exist such as pinch points (entrances and exits), where people will go (make sure that the second location will be unlocked if needed).  The Emergency Manager, should have the responsibility and authority to make the decision to when to evacuate (under what specific conditions and how soon).  This was another area of weakness identified by the consultants who analyzed the Indiana State Fair Tragedy.

10.  Practice emergency procedures, before every event and hold meetings with critical personnel to update any changes or significant new decisions.  Have a detailed communications plan that insures all personnel get the updates quickly.  Practices should identify possible problems and weaknesses.  Each concert, festival or special event should have it's own Emergency Preparedness Plan.  Even if the event is one of a series at the same venue, update the plan each time the event is held.  At your office or home, practice at least once a year.  Make sure each employee or family member knows what to do and where to go and how to communicate that they are safe.