Sometimes she blows in with a fury, bringing rain, snow, winds, fog, hurricanes or unexpected high tides. Other times she ushers in sunshine and the perfect light breeze. The challenge, of course, is to prepare in advance for whatever face Mother Nature decides to don on the day or your outdoor event.
Here are some tips to help you in your planning.
• Take a long-term approach.
The Old Farmers Almanac remains an excellent source for information regarding typical weather trends. Reference it when you start planning your event.
• Use weather monitoring apps.
I like Weather Underground for the days leading up to the event. Pay special attention to the fronts moving across the states. On the day of the event, I turn to Doppler radar. Download the local TV affiliates animated radar app to your smartphone. It’s the first thing I do when arriving in a city to host an outdoor event.
• Have a back-up location if possible.
If the event is a typical corporate event that is part of a multi-day event, I make sure to have a back-up location somewhere in the resort or venue that allows the outdoor event to move inside. Usually we have to make the rain call by noon if it is a fairly involved set-up. Many times we will get a late afternoon thunderstorm that will blow in anywhere from 3-6 PM prior to the event, in which case we try and cover up as much of the set-up as we can. Sometimes we get lucky and it moves fast, sometimes not. Most clients want to gamble and stay outside and hope the inclement weather will pass.
It is your job as the event planner to make an educated decision and inform the client what needs to be done. Click To Tweet• Delay or postpone the event if necessary.
If the event is a large outdoor event that cannot be moved to an indoor location, such as an event at a theme park, stadium, racetrack or other type of outdoor venue, there are two options. In Florida we sometimes have hurricanes that give us enough advance notice to reschedule. There are many occasions, however, when rescheduling is not an option and you have to have the event in the rain. I have purchased thousands of ponchos and handed them out to guest and the event/show happens as scheduled. (I will order them two days out if the forecast had a 40% chance or higher.)
• Memorize this key statement.
I cannot tell you how many times in my career I have said, “Never has an event been cancelled that I moved inside.”- Click To Tweet If the outdoor event has started and unwanted weather hits, the event is over. I have a lot of experience in these situations, which do not usually end pretty. Make sure your client understands the risk of remaining outdoors.
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