Event planning is not for the faint of heart. The jobs of venue and event managers are often referred to as “herding cats” - and for good reason. Coordinating multiple teams and stakeholders requires a high degree of organization and communication. 

But what happens when that communication breaks down? Not only will that impact the venue employees and the event planner, but it can also significantly impact the satisfaction of the event attendees - and in a world where reputation is everything, that leads to problems to your bottom line. Here are 10 real-world examples of ways miscommunication between venue staff and event planners can lead to chaos.

1. “Wait, nobody told us something changed”: The ceremony start time shifted. The speaker order (and presentations) got swapped. The room layout was revised. An outside vendor changed their arrival time by 2 hours. If only one or two people get the update, it leaves the rest of the venue staff in the dark, causing last-minute scrambles and visible mistakes to the attendees.
2. Critical info is buried in someone’s phone or inbox: Event managers are responsible for dozens of different events at any given time - and the venue’s main point of contact can become a black hole for critical messages. Important details can get lost in the shuffle, leading to a poor experience.
3. Planner and staff misalignment: Much like the famous Spiderman meme, finger-pointing between event planners and staff can derail an event. The planner assumes the venue staff knows the whole plan; the venue staff assumes the planner will communicate any changes. The result? Nobody has the whole story.
4. No real-time updates: Events rarely run 100% on time. So what happens when something is running late (or early)? No event venue staff is sitting at their desks, waiting for an email to come through. Without a centralized event communication system, there’s no fast way to notify everyone at the same time, causing a domino effect for the event’s entire timeline.
5. Static and physical run-of-show documents: Event planners and venue teams can only handle so many physical documents and schedules - and the moment a change happens, that piece of paper becomes obsolete. This can cause confusion across the venue
6. Verbal instructions disappear: When changes or adjustments to an event happen in passing, it leaves significant room for error. Venue staff may not hear all the instructions, or may misinterpret them. And if there’s no record of the changes or attendee needs, there’s no accountability…and that’s a recipe for poor customer satisfaction.
7. The trouble with walkie-talkies: While these may seem like a “quick fix” solution for event operations, oftentimes walkie-talkies are used too much, causing a lot of chatter (and a poor experience for customers around the venue staff). On the flip side, some staff may avoid using them, causing a lack of consistent communication.
8. “Who’s responsible for this?”: Without a centralized event management communication system, tasks can be discussed, but not clearly assigned. And if everyone assumes someone else is handling it, then it doesn’t actually get handled - that is, until it becomes an emergency and leads to “all hands on deck” levels of chaos.
9. Slow response to requests and problems: When an event planner makes a request of the venue, or when there’s an issue with a vendor or guest, response time is critical. If a customer sends a request and doesn’t get a fast response, the next step is typically to find the staff member within the closest physical proximity, and share their dissatisfaction with the problem resolution.
10. No confirmation loop: When an event planner makes a request, it’s up to the venue manager to coordinate the response. But without a consistent, closed feedback loop, the event planner has no idea whether their issue has been resolved. This creates a poor overall experience for the event planner, the attendees, and anyone else involved with the event.

Every event professional has experienced the feeling of everything going wrong at the worst possible moment. While some amount of chaos is likely inevitable with any event, there are many headaches that can be solved by a more effective event communication platform. By creating a single source of truth, with visibility by all team members, and an easy-to-use communication method for customers, event operations can run much more smoothly, leading to a better experience - and higher satisfaction - for all. For more information on streamlining your event communications, check out Kipsu Events or schedule a conversation now!

‍