Safety and security aren’t new to the events industry but the level of awareness and expectation around them continues to rise. Regardless of the event you are planning, safety is about more than a checklist, it is a part of hospitality.
In a recent conversation, we spoke with Liz Lathan, Founder of Club Ichi, about a resource that she developed—A Practical Safety Playbook for Event Professional Hosting Events in U.S. Cities. This guide can help planners proactively think through safety leading up to their event. One theme stood out clearly:
Preparedness builds confidence.
Here are three ways to build safety into your planning process whether you are planning a nonprofit gala, corporate conference, or social gathering.
1. Clarify your Decision Makers
In any emergency, whether it is a medical situation, operational disruption, or security concern, someone needs to be empowered to make a decision.
One of the most important questions to ask is:
Who is the on-site decision maker?
That applies to: The venue, your event planning team, and any additional vendors involved.
“Have the answers,” Liz shared. “And then walk through them in your pre-con meeting. Don’t just say, ‘It’s in the event bible.’ Turn to the page and review it together.”
Clarity helps prevent confusion under stress. It also allows the rest of the team to focus on their responsibilities rather than scrambling for direction.
Even if you never need to activate that chain of command, simply defining it strengthens confidence for your team.
2. Communicate Calmly and Transparently
One of the most powerful lines from Liz’s Safety Playbook is this:
Silence creates more fear than transparency.
That doesn’t mean alarming attendees. It means acknowledging concerns in a steady, professional way.
“It’s not something that needs to be blasted on social media,” Liz explained. “It’s simply part of your normal attendee communication stream.”
In practice, this might look like:
- Including a brief note in your “know before you go” email
- Providing a clear contact for safety-related questions
- Reassuring attendees that planning is active and ongoing
Aim to balance your communication rather than over-communicating which can induce fear: acknowledge reality, provide clarity, and keep the tone calm and steady.
3. Lead with Presence and Awareness
How you show up on-site matters to the attendees. Energy matters. Attendees notice how teams carry themselves. Liz shared a perspective that resonated with us: “I think we shape the environment. If we are calm, cool, and collected, attendees feel that.”
If staff appear frantic or overly reactive, it can unintentionally heighten tension. If they are visible, informed, and steady, it reinforces confidence.
This is where our safety preparation meets hospitality in an event.
Consider simple gestures that can go a long way:
- Providing a quiet space for someone who feels overwhelmed
- Training staff to observe and escalate rather than intervene physically
- Offering escorts to parking areas at night
- Ensuring your team knows the order of operations for medical emergencies
Another simple way to ensure your team is prepared is being CPR certified. As Liz put it, “Even if your staff isn’t running around doing CPR, they need to know what to do and what the order of operations is.”
Prepared teams feel more confident, and that confidence transfers to attendees.
Safety as Hospitality
The goal of factoring safety into your event plan isn’t to create fear. It’s to create confidence.
It starts with clear decision makers, aligned partners, calm communication, and visible preparedness.
And as Liz reminded us, event professionals often have more influence than we realize. “Don’t be afraid to ask the questions,” she encouraged. “Start small but have a big voice.” Every clarification raised with a venue, every protocol reviewed with a team, and every steady message shared with attendees raises the standard.
For those looking to explore this further, Liz Lathan’s Practical Safety Playbook for Event Professionals Hosting Events in U.S. Cities offers a framework that planners can adapt to events of all types and sizes.
When we gather people, safety isn’t separate from hospitality, it’s part of it.