Imagine...

It's finally the day of your retreat. After months of planning, you're ecstatic to share the day with attendees. You've lined up an excellent guest speaker and an energetic worship band. Everything is perfect, and you feel accomplished. That is, until someone cancels.

At this moment, you may feel anxious, stressed, or even angry, and it's OK to feel disappointed that things are off balance! Humans plan and attend events, meaning cancellations are bound to happen!

Stop, breathe, and pray before letting your emotions get the best of you, and refrain from allowing last-minute cancellations to throw you off balance. Remember, you are an accomplished Event Planner with a solid Plan B, C, and D ready to roll at a moment's notice.

We've compiled a list of event planning tips for last-minute cancellations that will help you prepare for the unexpected!

Guest Speaker:

• Plan B (Your speaker can't attend in person): In today's technology-driven world, pivoting to a virtual option is easy. Discuss a backup plan with your speaker early in the planning stage if something occurs and they cannot attend in person. Decide on video conferencing software such as Zoom, Teams, Skype, or Facebook Messenger, and have a link scheduled and shared with your team. Additionally, you can request your speaker pre-record their sermon or speech to be streamed during the timeslot.
• Plan C (Your speaker cannot attend, but you have an alternate speaker): Confer with your team and ask if anyone is willing to volunteer as an alternate speaker if your Guest Speaker cannot attend. If you are firm on the topic, encourage your alternate to watch your Guest Speaker's pre-recorded speech and speak alongside it, or, if the Guest Speaker is willing, have them write a speech for your backup. This creates a more dynamic experience than watching the standalone pre-recorded video.
• Plan D (You do not have a single soul available to speak): Identify a movie, documentary, or pre-recorded sermon related to your event theme and stream it during the time slot. SermonCentral.com is an excellent resource for sermons and sermon series. If you plan to use a movie as a backup option, take the appropriate steps to ensure you follow copyright law. Church Video License has tiered pricing dependent on your church or organization's size.

Worship Band:

• Plan B: Designate an alternate worship leader. Is anyone on your team musically talented? Do you have anyone from your home church worship band who could step in during a time of need? 
• Plan C: Use backing tracks! Many companies, such as WorshipHouse Media, provide beautifully curated backing tracks and lyrics for commercial use. Before purchasing, check with your home church to see if you can borrow anything from their media library. 
• Plan D: Check out YouTube. There are so many creators out there who make fantastic free content using worship songs from the public domain. The account 'Top Worship Songs' has 10-hour videos with lyrics. 

A last-minute cancellation will be stressful, no matter what, but it will be easier to handle with a soundproof backup plan. With technology at our fingertips, we can always consult the internet for comparable alternatives to what we originally planned. Plus, fantastic Christian organizations and content creators online make and release new resources daily.

Ultimately, when we plan for the unexpected, we set ourselves up for success.