When most people think of contingency planning, they worry about weather disasters and terrorism. But what if the issue at hand is no Internet access? Or maybe a hotel weathered a storm but lost power, making it impossible to print the handouts for the day’s sessions. Contingency planning expert Brad A. Goldberg, owner and CEO of TriGold Consulting, offers some advice.

Printing/Copying: Depending on where a meeting is held, sometimes relying on a property to help you with a meeting will create more problems. For example, if the printers won’t work because of a virus, what are the alternatives? I always recommend you know how to get things printed whether in New York or Rapid City, South Dakota, should you not be able to print on site.

Power: Not every property will be able to handle a loss of power situation. More importantly, if power will be restored but requires a short time to do so, how meeting planners prepare does not require a great deal of thought. Always have a flashlight or some type of device that will allow you to move around a space safely. Keep one on your person at all times (a small one on a key chain) and ensure you test it every day.

Privacy: In this era of identification theft, it is imperative that we as professionals understand the technology we are employing and what it can do to infringe on the privacy of our attendees. Ensure your attendees understand about public access in their rooms when using hotel Internet options. Ensure that meetings held on any property that require Internet use in the room are using a secured system.