by Heather Reid
I’ve been an event planner since 1994. That means I’ve planned through the September 11 terrorist attacks, SARS, the Great Recession, COVID-19, and now an era defined by economic uncertainty, labour shortages, cybersecurity threats, climate emergencies, supply chain disruptions, tariffs, and geopolitical instability.
Looking back over more than 30 years, one thing has become abundantly clear to me: the role of the event contract has fundamentally changed.
When I began my career, event contracts were often viewed as administrative documents. They confirmed dates, rates, meeting space, food and beverage commitments, and sleeping room blocks. Risk management lived somewhere else…in emergency procedures, security plans, and operational checklists.
Today, I believe event contracts have become one of the most important risk management tools available to event professionals. In fact, I would argue that every negotiated event contract should now function as a “risk shield.”
What Is a Risk Shield?
A risk shield is any strategy, policy, insurance product, contractual provision, or protection mechanism that reduces exposure to risk or liability.
For event professionals, contracts are uniquely positioned to serve this purpose. A well-negotiated contract can allocate risk fairly, establish responsibilities before problems arise, and provide remedies when things do not go according to plan.
The challenge is that many contracts in our industry were written for a more predictable world. And from where I sit, many planners still negotiate them as if that world exists.
Are We Falling Behind Reality?
One of the recurring themes throughout my career has been watching our industry become intensely interested in contracts immediately following a crisis.
After 9/11, there was renewed attention to cancellation language. After SARS, planners became more aware of business interruption risks. Following COVID-19, Force Majeure became the most discussed contract clause in the meetings industry.
Then something predictable happens. The crisis fades. The urgency fades. And contract discussions often move back behind more immediate planning responsibilities.
I posed this question in a previous CMN article following the pandemic: Will complacency set in again?
Unfortunately, I think there are signs that it already has. Meanwhile, the risk environment surrounding our events continues to evolve. Today’s event planners face challenges that would have been difficult to imagine when many of our standard contract clauses were originally drafted. Consider: disease outbreaks, labour disruptions, climate-related emergencies, supply chain failures, government mandates, travel restrictions, cybersecurity incidents and tariffs.
The risks have changed. Have our contracts kept pace?
The Problem with “Standard” Contracts
Most event contracts are drafted by suppliers. Suppliers have every right to protect their financial, operational, and reputational interests. However, event professionals must recognize a fundamental reality: a supplier’s draft contract is designed to protect the supplier. It is not designed to protect the event. That’s not criticism. It’s simply business.
What concerns me is when planners assume that a standard contract must therefore be a balanced contract. In my experience, that is rarely the case. Many supplier contracts contain carefully crafted risk shields protecting the supplier through provisions such as:
- limitation of liability clauses
- Indemnification language
- damage caps
- Force Majeure provisions
- insurance requirements
- exclusions for consequential losses.
Rarely do suppliers’ draft contracts contain equivalent protections for the event organizer. And this imbalance should not surprise us. What should concern us is when planners fail to identify it.
Force Majeure Is No Longer Enough
Few clauses have received more attention in recent years than Force Majeure. Yet I continue to see contracts relying on language that feels increasingly disconnected from today’s realities. Historically, Force Majeure provisions focused on events such as floods, fires, earthquakes, and acts of war. While those risks remain relevant, today’s event environment demands broader thinking. What happens when a government advisory recommends against travel? What happens when a corporation imposes a travel ban? What happens when supply chain disruptions make execution of the event commercially impracticable? What happens when law enforcement advises that attendee safety cannot reasonably be assured?
These are no longer hypothetical questions. They are operational realities. Future-ready contracts must address them.
Risk Isn’t Just Legal…It’s Operational
One of the biggest misconceptions about contracts is that they are simply legal documents. I disagree. Contracts are operational documents. They influence room blocks, food and beverage commitments, staffing expectations, service levels, audiovisual access, cancellation rights, deposits, remedies, and financial exposure. When circumstances change – and they inevitably do – the contract becomes the roadmap that guides decision-making.
Five Questions Every Planner Should Ask
When reviewing an event contract today, I believe planners should ask five simple questions:
- does the contract clearly identify foreseeable risks?
- does it provide flexibility if circumstances change?
- are the operational and financial expectations of both parties clearly defined?
- does it fairly allocate responsibility between the supplier and the event organizer?
- if a crisis occurred tomorrow, would this contract help solve problems or create more of them?
These questions may seem simple; however, they reveal an extraordinary amount about whether a contract is functioning as a true risk shield.
A Call to Action
As event professionals, we have a responsibility to protect our organizations, employers, clients, attendees and events. That responsibility extends beyond negotiating room rates, and food and beverage minimums. It includes understanding risk. It includes anticipating disruption. And it includes negotiating contracts that reflect the realities of the world we are operating in today, not the world we operated in 10 years ago, even just five years ago.
The events industry has entered an era where uncertainty is not the exception. It is the expectation. The planners who thrive in this environment will not be those who simply react well when challenges arise. They will be those who proactively negotiate protections before challenges occur. Because in today’s unstable world, a well-negotiated event contract is no longer just an administrative document.
A well-negotiated event contract is a risk shield. And perhaps one of the most important ones we have.
Heather Reid is CEO & Founder of Planner Protect Inc. and creator of the “Certified Event Contract Professional” (CECP) certification program. A leading authority on event contract strategy, risk management and negotiations, she helps organizations, planners, and industry suppliers negotiate balanced contracts that protect events, finances and relationships. Heather is recognized across North America for advancing contract competency as a core professional skill for event planners.
