“Hope is not a strategy”
This was one of my favorite quotes during the MeCo chat by Julia Rutherford Silvers, CSEP, on risk management this past Wednesday. (MeCo is short for Meetings Community, which is a listserv, Web site, Second Life mansion, job board…they keep on adding more stuff, including monthly chats with experts like Julia.)
There’s no way I could begin to cover all she talked about here, but here are a few other key quotes:
“You need to acknowledge that risk is inherent in all events. Your risk planning should be as robust as your event planning.”
“Risk is simply the unknown, the possibility that something bad—or something good—could happen.”
“Ignorance is no excuse. ‘I didn’t know’ will do you no good in the courtroom.”
Among her many points were that planners should identify all possible risks, then analyze them to determine their causes, consequences, probability, and priority. Then you can decide which risks need an action plan, and which are unlikely or inconsequential enough that you can let them lie.
As she said, the basis of any good risk management plan includes:
- Recognize the risks
Interpret their implications
Solve the situation
Keep vigilant
She has a ton of great information on this topic (and a whole host of others) at this site. Thanks to Julia and to MeCo moderator Dan Parks for putting this series together.
Related Topics: Meetings and conventions
