Speaker management

Folio magazine generally is more for publishing folks, but I've seen an increasing number of event-related articles in it that are pretty good. Like this one on what to do if a speaker goes AWOL. A snip:

[Kevin Beam, executive vice president of IT media company TechTarget] says his events team actually apologizes to speakers in advance, warning them that they will be hounded for every little detail up until the show. TechTarget e-mails speakers warnings every week for three weeks as a reminder that the event is coming. Staff collect cell, home and work phone numbers, both work and personal e-mail addresses, administrative-assistant contact information, travel itinerary, where they are staying, and when they are expected to check in.

Another speaker tip I heard today: Don't give them ice-water when they're on stage. It's bad for the vocal chords. I didn't know that!