Case Studies In International Crisis Management
THE CASE OF THE LOST ACOMPAÑANTES
(A Nightmare in Four Acts)
Carol Krugman, CMP, CMM
Krugman Maller LLC
Adapted from Global Meetings & Exhibitions, by Carol Krugman, CMP, CMM and Rudy Wright, CMP. John Wiley & Sons, 2006.]
© 2009 Krugman Maller LLC. All rights reserved
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THE CASE OF THE LOST ACOMPAÑANTES
Meeting Type:
Client:
Location:
Venue:
Dates:
"Meetcentive – combination meeting and incentive for top 10% of European
distributors.
Multinational IT company, headquartered in US
Madrid, Spain
5-star downtown hotel
April 27-May 1 (Thursday-Monday)
MEETING OBJECTIVES
Present and discuss the most recent product development advances in preparation for new product
launches in several European countries.
Videotape meeting sessions and interviews with speakers for subsequent use at internal sales force training
meetings.
Provide opportunities for social interaction among company personnel and invited major distributors to
enhance development of long term professional and personal relationships.
Motivate top producers to sell more of the company's products in the coming year.
ATTENDEE PROFILE
150 European distributors of XYZ software, representing top 10% of product sales in Europe
25 US company headquarters and European subsidiary managers
All company personnel Director level or above
5 USHQ attendees identified as VVIPs
120 spouses/guests of invited physician attendees
10 spouses of company personnel, including 3 US VVIP spouses
Countries represented: Spain, Portugal, Italy, Germany, UK, France, Belgium, Netherlands, Switzerland,
Denmark, Norway, Sweden.
ON-SITE PROJECT TEAM
US-based logistics agency hired by client:
Project team leader (English/Spanish/French/Portuguese/some Italian)
Project Director (English/Spanish/some French)
Project Coordinator (English/Spanish)
AV Producer (English only)
LOCAL SUPPORT TEAM (DMC hired by agency)
Ground transportation supervisor (Spanish/English)
2 Coordinators (Spanish/English/French, Spanish/English/German)
8 AV technicians, including director (Spanish only ) and bilingual Spanish/English interpreter
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PROLOGUE
It is the last day of the meeting, Sunday, April 30th. You have completed two very successful days of this
three day meeting. In spite of a complicated audiovisual set up and difficult conditions in this old and
elegant but technically challenging hotel, all has been going well with the audio and videotaping.
Everyone is pleased with both the meeting content and the ancillary social activities, all of which have been
implemented flawlessly, to the relief and delight of your immediate client contact, who seems to be relaxed
for the first time since her arrival.
As the morning meeting session begins, three buses carrying the attendees' spouses/guests leave the hotel
in the center of Madrid for a full day tour outside the city. The group is 95% female, and includes all of the
top company managers' spouses. The itinerary includes lunch at a country restaurant, and a visit to a rustic
crafts museum and gift shop. It is raining, unfortunately, but all of the planned activities are indoors, so the
group is in good spirits and takes off cheerfully.
There is a multilingual guide provided by the DMC on each bus and one of your Spanish speaking project
team members is accompanying the group. The client has decided that neither special security, nor EMT
personnel are required, nor are they a justifiable additional expense for this group. However, there are first
aid kits on each of the three buses, two of the guides and your project coordinator are certified in CPR and
everyone (including most of the tour participants) has a cellular phone.
The buses are scheduled to be back at the hotel by 17h00, so that the group will have plenty of time to
relax and dress for the evening's final gala dinner. The dinner will be held at a private hacienda 10km
outside of the city and departure from the hotel is scheduled for 20h30.
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ACT I
The meeting ended on time at 17h00 and several attendees made their way to the lobby to continue the
camaraderie and greet the returning tour buses. It is now 17h30 and they are still waiting, although they
have moved to the lobby bar, where they continue to both talk and look anxiously at the front door.
You ask your DMC contact to find out what is causing the delay.
Fifteen minutes later, he returns with unexpected news. None of the three buses are responding to the
dispatcher's radio call. There is no other way to reach either the drivers or the accompanying staff on the
buses, since there appears to be no cellular phone service, either. You whip out you mobile phone to call
your coordinator on Bus #1 and sure enough – nada. No service.
Should you be concerned at this point?
What are your next steps?
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ACT II
It is now 18h00 and the tour buses are an hour late. The attendees waiting at the lobby bar are not the
only ones concerned. More and more calls are coming down to the meeting information desk, asking when
the tour will be returning. Your client contact has just come down to the lobby to ask what is going on.
You have still received no information whatsoever as to the location, condition and estimated time of
arrival (ETA) of the three buses. Both your DMC and the bus company are at a loss to explain the situation,
but are trying to find out when and where the buses were last seen.
What do you tell the client?
What do you do next?
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ACT III
It is now 18h30 and you are beginning top wonder if you have entered the Twilight Zone. Your DMC is
visibly perplexed and concerned. He assures you that this has never happened before and he is truly at a
loss to explain the mysterious disappearance of the three buses.
A phone call to the restaurant has established that the group arrived at 12h30, ate lunch and departed at
14h00. No one was ill, everyone was fine and all three buses departed together in the direction of Madrid.
However a phone call to the next scheduled stop – the crafts museum - has established that the group,
which was supposed to arrive around 14h30, never showed up. There is still no response from the
dispatcher's continuous efforts to contact the three buses by radio. The silence is as ominous as it is
inexplicable. The police and the equivalent of the highway patrol have been contacted, but other than
noting extremely heavy traffic on the roads, there have been no reports of accidents, terrorism or any
incident involving 3 buses of foreigners – or 3 buses of anyone, for that matter.
As more and more concerned attendees begin to gather in the lobby, you mobilize your staff and key client
contacts. You have a basic emergency plan that covers a variety of scenarios – fire, serious illness or injury,
violent crime, even acts of God. But your preparation did not include the wholesale disappearance of 120
spouses and guests after lunch!
The anxiety and concern is escalating and you have to do something quickly to alleviate the tension among
the attendees and your client, while continuing to focus on the missing buses. The senior company
representative on site is expecting you and your immediate client contact, the Director of International
Meetings, to present him with an update and action plan 20 minutes from now. His meeting is falling apart
and he wants you to "get this situation resolved immediately."
Outline a plan of action. Describe how you will integrate the combined resources of your project team,
DMC staff, hotel staff, and client personnel to address the most critical issues.
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ACT IV
It is now 19h30, two and a half hours after the spuses/guests were due to return to the hotel and you
finally receive word from the DMC that the buses have made radio contact, even though there is still no
cellular phone service.
The good news is that everyone in the group is safe and sound. The bad news is that they are still an hour
outside the city, stuck in what the evening news is now calling the worst traffic jam in the history of Madrid.
It seems that the rain and continuing dismal forecast prompted a million or so Madrileños, who left town
on Friday for the long May Day weekend, to return home today, rather than tomorrow. This early and
unexpected wave of traffic has caught everyone by surprise and has paralyzed every major artery within a
100km radius of Madrid since mid-day. The spouse/guest tour buses, inching their way back to Madrid
since leaving the restaurant at 14h00, have only just now gotten within radio range of the city to respond
to the frantic calls from the dispatcher. Mobile phone service is still down, as a result of a completely
overloaded system.
You are relieved that the dreadful accident you had been envisaging has not occurred. However, you now
have an additional logistical challenge – what to do about the gala dinner? It is supposed to be the final
highlight of the meeting, complete with flamenco troupe, lavish decorations and a four course gourmet
menu.
Transportation to the hacienda from the hotel is scheduled to begin at 20h30, which is about the time that
the tour buses are due to finally return from their highway ordeal. After six and a half hours on a bus, the
tour participants may not even want to go to the dinner – especially when they hear that they have to get
back on a bus to get there. Would you? It is too late to lower your guarantee. That sinking feeling in your
stomach is getting worse…
130 meeting attendees are relieved to hear that their spouses/guests are safe and sound, but remain angry
and anxious, waiting for their actual return. Meanwhile, the 50 people who came to the meeting on their
own are expecting to board a bus in an hour to go to a fabulous farewell dinner and flamenco show.
Your client contact and the Executive VP of Global marketing want to know how you plan to salvage the
evening, the meeting and whatever future business you think you may have with them.
Describe both your plan of action and staff deployment for the evening, addressing the needs and
concerns of the following three groups of attendees:
 Client headquarters and subsidiary personnel
 Accompanied attendees and their spouses/guests
 Unaccompanied attendees
 Your staff
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7
LESSONS LEARNED
What were the key elements of this crisis?
Is there anything in the above list that could have been anticipated from your experience in your home
country, or discovered during a site visit? List all that apply to your particular experience.
Note three things that you will think about, do differently and/or incorporate into your planning
activities as a result of this case study:
1)
2)
3)
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