All eyes were on experts like Rick Werth, president of Event and Meeting Security Services, Franklin, Tenn. and well-known meeting industry lawyer John Foster, of Jensen & Gulley, Atlanta, as incentive planners grappled with issues like attendee security and attrition.
In Foster's session on force majeure clauses, he spoke about how companies can no longer use the events of 9/11 and attendees' fear of flying to justify drops in attendance. Security alert bulletins and government warnings are here to stay, he said. Now, only specific threats on the exact days companies are traveling and places they're staying could justify a failure to meet contract obligations.
Werth, who has become the meeting industry's top resource for security advice since 9/11, told meeting-goers that the obligation to plan for attendees' secutiry is now part of a planner's job description "no matter the size of the event."
In the upcoming issue of Corporate Meetings & Incentives (July), he talks to senior editor Bill Gillette about secutiry precautions for the upcoming 9/11 anniversary. "Now is the time to be planning security and communicating to attendees," he says. "It will comfort them to now what the company is doing and that measures are being taken to assess any risks and provide appropriate security."