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sherwood group helps client manage mexico meeting cancellation: a personal story

I just returned from Cancun, Mexico, where the H1N1 flu (swine flu) pandemic caused one of our clients to make the difficult but correct decision to cancel their international conference less than 48 hours before the opening session. The Academy for Eating Disorders (AED) 2009 International Conference was to begin Wednesday, May 29, at the JW Marriott and CasaMagna Marriott, two beautiful adjoining properties in Cancun.

What transpired was a moment-to-moment drama: trolling for news updates, evaluating risks to the organization and the meeting participants if the meeting went on or was cancelled, coordinating staff in Cancun and at The Sherwood Group office back in Deerfield, Ill., and communicating with the international board of directors and meeting attendees, members who may have been planning to register on site, exhibitors, supporters and media.

The detailed and thorough AED staff response would not have been possible if AED had not been managed by an AMC. The same applies to the increased level of activity that will continue for the rest of the year, simultaneous to planning for the 2010 conference, which will take place in Salzburg, Austria.

AED has been growing steadily over the past few years, and last year the board decided it was time to increase its executive director time commitment at Sherwood. The then-current AED account execs’ other client was also growing and wanted to increase her time commitment to full-time. So this provided an opportunity to hire a new account exec for AED and one other client. Unfortunately the search has taken longer than we had hoped. I serve as Sherwood’s Managing Partner for AED, which is how I found myself at the center of the situation in Cancun last week, serving as interim AED executive director.

Friday-Saturday, April 24-25
Friday afternoon the swine flu news broke, and within a few hours it was all over the Internet,  television and the AED listserv. Staff began monitoring CDC, WHO, the U.S. State Department, and other sources, as well as the communication on the AED’s listserv to assess the threat and the level of concern among meeting attendees. We communicated several times Saturday with the board about the situation and current status and options as they evolved. We also sent e-mails to presenters and posted a status notice on the organization's Web site. The meeting was still on – and the staff team and I stayed in touch and traded ideas about how to make attendees feel safe about coming to Mexico. We made plans to distribute the CDC guidelines for healthy travel via e-mail to participants and distribute hard copies onsite. We also discussed having masks and hand sanitizer available and switching all pitcher water service to bottled.

Sunday, April 26
I arrived in Cancun Sunday afternoon with our on-site meeting staff, Jacky Schweinzger, CMP and Shalini D’Souza. We met as soon as we reached the hotel, then resumed monitoring and communicating with the board. The meeting was still on and the CDC and others were saying that travel to Cancun was safe. But the situation seemed to be escalating, both on the news and among meeting attendees. We scheduled an emergency board call for Monday morning.

Early Sunday evening I spoke with the chair of the Hispano-Latino American Chapter of the AED. The group had made the decision to cancel its one-day congress, which was to take place on Tuesday. The AED HLA Chapter event would have involved 200 participants from Mexico and Central and South America. Many of the attendees were coming from Mexico City, and that had the potential to create a tremendous health threat. At the same time, the governments of Brazil, Argentina and other countries in South and Central America issued stern warnings against travel to Mexico. We also placed calls to our conference insurance manager and hotel sales representative.

A Very Long Monday, April 27
By Monday there were more travel warnings but still no restrictions from the U.S., Europe, Asia or Australia. The CDC increased its alert to the highest level and WHO ratcheted up its threat level from three to four (six is highest). The airlines had begun to allow changes and cancellations without penalty, making it easier for meeting participants who were on the fence to cancel. The Mexican government issued warnings against public gatherings in confined spaces, and schools and offices in Mexico City began to close. There was also alarm on the AED listserv. Another serious concerns was that many AED members who work in hospital settings were being called back to their institutions or specifically forbidden from traveling to Mexico in order to assist with planning for treatment of local outbreaks.

In the face of this overwhelming tide and concern for the safety of our attendees, the board agreed to cancel the meeting on our call late Monday morning. The International Conference on Eating Disorders would have included more than 1,000 attendees and guests, hundreds of them coming from or through Mexico City. We decided that it was far too great a risk to hold sessions in confined meeting rooms for several days. Our primary responsibility is the health of our attendees, their families, patients and communities, as well as the local community in Cancun.

Two staff members back in the office joined our emergency board call, which made it easier to coordinate communication and action from what would follow. We immediately composed a cancellation notice from the board and staff and sent it via e-mail to members, registered attendees, presenters, exhibitors, supporters and media. The same notice was posted on the listservs and the AED Web site (by our Web services group in the office). Plenary session chairs were telephoned so they could notify the invited presenters. The notice was also provided to staff members in the office who would assist with answering the flood of phone calls and e-mails about the meetings status. We then prepared to meet with hotel management.

About 100 attendees, including the president-elect and two board members, had already arrived in Cancun, and we arranged for the hotels to send voice messages and a printed notice to them. We posted signs in the lobby and in other areas of the hotels with the cancellation notice, which included information about a special outdoor reception Tuesday evening for the people already in Cancun. An official cancellation letter was made available on the organization's letterhead, helpful documentation for those needing reimbursement of expenses from their institutions and travel providers.

We then scheduled another board call for the next day to organize our approach to taking all of the meeting components and making them available in other ways throughout the year: education sessions, continuing education credit, awards, scholarships, a board election and transition, recognition for board members and the program committee that had worked on this event for the past year, and the scheduled in-person board meeting, to name a few.

Tuesday, April 28
A special issue of the newsletter was planned and interactive message board would be added to the web site. Two special 90-minute board calls were scheduled for May to address the board agenda from the planned meeting in Cancun. We heard that 15-20 attendees had arranged a Wednesday networking dinner on their own. I met with them and arranged for AED to pick up the dinner tab.
                                                                                             
And Now the Work Begins
We then began negotiations with the hotel regarding and engaged an attorney to manage the conference cancellation insurance claim.  Our accounting department has begun the process of evaluating direct and staff costs for the meeting to support the claim.

Staff made arrangements to return home, and we agreed on a three-day home quarantine to watch for symptoms before returning to the office. Throughout the process, activities and communication was coordinated between staff in Cancun and staff members back in the office, so they were in the loop and had consistent messages. Sherwood will continue to provide extra staff for the additional work that will continue throughout the year.

The board has been extremely grateful and complimentary of our work on this process. We stayed cool and kept our good humor. Having the resources of an AMC helped our client navigate and manage a difficult situation as elegantly as possible.

Almost immediately, other Sherwood Group client organizations with meetings in the coming weeks and months in the United States, Caribbean and Europe expressed concern about their events. Our experience has provided a valuable template to help our staff and boards prepare, evaluate and respond as the situation evolves. 

In the days since, Mexico declared a five-day holiday for businesses and schools to help contain the outbreak. WHO raised its threat level again, to five, and confirmed reports swine flu cases worldwide have continued to rise. Governments, airports, schools and other organizations and institutions have stepped up containment and screening measures. It’s nice to know we did our part.

--Greg Schultz, Vice President
The Sherwood Group, Inc.