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Incentive and Meeting Planners Prepare for Swine Flu Season
September 09, 2009
With concerns that we’re heading toward an H1N1 outbreak, planners discuss their strategies
By Alex Palmer
The popular pillow gift this season may be a bottle of hand sanitizer. With concerns about the H1N1 virus making a comeback this month as flu season approaches, meeting and incentive planners are going on the offensive. But as planners seek a balance between caution and crisis-mode, there is concern that some may not be doing enough.
“It’s beyond washing your hands and sneezing into your sleeve—as someone that is going to convene a group, much more has to be done,” said Joan Eisenstodt, consultant with Washington, D.C.-based Eisenstodt Associates LLC, which advises meetings and incentive groups, as well as hotels and CVBs, on event planning. “There are a handful of us who are thinking about it, but when I ask various clients and groups what they are doing in general and specifically I’m hearing that they really think this is a little bit like SARS—overblown and not really a big deal.”
Eisenstodt worries that Swine flu will be downplayed by an industry that has already faced significant struggles over the past year and is not eager to take on a new one. She sees it as a significant enough concern that she will be teaching a risk management course for a group of meeting planners next month, using H1N1 as an example.
Among the precautions Eisenstodt mentions are providing participants with hand sanitizers and antibacterial wipes as part of the pre-trip gift package, knowing the health department contacts for the area and encouraging participants to get vaccines prior to the trip. She also advises that planners prepare for more significant events like the quarantine of a cruise ship, or a situation where the planners themselves contract the virus.
“The safest thing to do is close your doors and sit home, but there’s a certain amount of calculated risk that everyone has to take,” joked Jody Huber, director of business development for Dallas, Texas-based SEI Meetings and Incentives.
Huber was running a 500-person incentive program in New York this April when the last outbreak of H1N1 hit a fever pitch. Caught by surprise at the level of concern and coverage about the outbreak, she and her team cleaned out the local drug store of its 500-or-so bottles of hand sanitizer. Huber even offered the opportunity for participants to drop out of the program if they were uncomfortable.
“We said ‘if you’re really concerned, and you don’t want to come, then we understand and there will be no penalties,’” said Huber. “But everyone ended up coming, and nobody seemed too nervous about it.”
This season, SEI is preparing for the worst and hoping for the best, according to Huber. They are currently keeping an eye on Center for Disease Control’s announcements, and communicating with clients on any incidents that may occur in the areas they will be traveling in.
Julia Silvers, author of Risk Management for Meetings and Events agrees with this approach, saying that the CDC’s reports are the only warnings that should be considered. “General media reports may be hyperbole,” said Silvers. “They are, after all, in the business of getting viewers or readers.”
But she believes planners should be prepared for travel delays, level of service compromises, and individual or event cancellation. Silvers urges planners to have policies and procedures in place in case an incident should occur: providing participants with a way to cancel with little or no penalty, having a back-up plan for speakers or entertainers who must cancel, and having a communications plan in place for advising participants and suppliers should there be cancellations or changes in the schedule or location.
The American Hotel & Lodging Association recently released its own manual for hotel managers as well as other industry professionals on how to handle Swine flu risks in hotels. The 26-page manual, “H1N1 Influenza Management in Hotels,” offers guidance for managing both employees and guests who are afflicted with the illness, discussing both basic sanitation practices and strategies for full-blow outbreaks.
“Being informed and knowledgeable about today’s flu is one of the best vaccines hoteliers can use to protect their guests and staff,” said AH&LA president and CEO Joseph McInerney in a statement. “This guide will help our industry develop plans to handle staff absenteeism, sick guests, room sanitation and a number of other important areas they might encounter every day through this pandemic.”
If a guest room is contaminated, the guide recommends handling all linen and guest items with gloves and facemasks and transporting sheets in red plastic biohazard bags. It recommends giving the staff regular updates and setting up a dedicated emergency hotline that employees and guests can call to stay informed of any new information.
But the manual also advises that personal details of any affected guest not be released and that “good customer service in this kind of crisis situation is extremely important.” The full guide can be downloaded at www.ahla.com/flu. Eisenstodt applauds this kind of information, and believes incentive and meeting planners will also find it of value.
“I would love to see all of their hotel members send it out to everyone who is having a meeting in the next couple of weeks,” said Eisenstodt. “Until you push them on any kind of risk management plan, most groups are not willing to do it.”
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