Who is hooking up when a big event is cancelled: planner or venue? This problem is increasingly emerging as global instability reshapes the landscape of conferences and events.
The women-centric conference Trybe canceled its inauguration in Las Vegas, citing opposition to diversity, equity and inclusion. The Air Force canceled the March 2025 Life Industry Date. The Georgia Public Health Association canceled its February 2025 conference. These are just a few cancellations related to the political shift. Industry leaders expect more.
Password contracts have never been more important.
Independent Event Planner, Event Contract Expert, Planner Prolanner Protect Inc., Event Contracts, in addition to a solid contract, also clearly state the “purpose of the event”.
Here is a summary of the goals, audience, and programming. “If the main success factor is blocked due to being beyond the control of the event organizer and/or supplier partners, the organizer’s legal counsel can refer to the summary document to justify the termination,” Reed said. “If cancelled or interrupted, it lays the foundation for the contract clause application.”
Reed shared the following example:
ABC 2026 is the flagship event of the association. It includes two-day educational conferences, trade fairs and live evening events. IT Events are annual events where they are members of healthcare professionals and their families, ABC employees and families, as well as sponsors and exhibitors. The conference relies financially on income earned from sponsorship, exhibitor fees and attendee registration fees. If all these sources of income are significantly damaged, this is not feasible.
Continuity, rescheduling, cancellation and substitution arrangements must also be clearly defined in the contract.
Build flexibility or pay a price
Jonathan Howe, president and founding partner of Howe & Hutton, urges planners to prepare for the disruption. He suggested adding a “purpose frustration” clause. When unforeseen events undermine the core purpose of the agreement, they defend one party from the contractual obligations.
“The incident must be outside the control of the parties and not due to the fault of either party, rather than the risk assumed when the contract is signed,” Howe said.
He also suggested that there were clauses to address price fluctuations.
But getting these protections is not easy. “Hotels and suppliers generally want the group to take risks only,” said Joshua Grimes, attorney for the Grimes Law Office. “Unless planners stick to them from the outset, they will postpone the ‘frustration’ purpose’ clause – ideally by making them ‘must’ have’ in the RFP.”
Ultimately, a well-crafted contract backed by purpose-driven documents can be the difference between a manageable disruption and a costly legal or financial crisis.
