Then Stuart Ruff-Lyon got pulled from the show floor and walked, without explanation, to a room where the Chief of Police of Atlanta was waiting.
Two miles away, there was an active shooter on the loose. Four hotels on lockdown. Two shuttle routes stopped. Nine thousand attendees in the building.
In this Dynamic Dialogue After Show, Megan Martin and Stuart Ruff-Lyon go through the whole story, minute by minute, from the walk down that hallway to the decision to cancel the finale, to what RIMS did publicly afterward that the entire events industry should study and copy.
But this episode is bigger than one incident. It is the full behind-the-scenes career of the person who turned a 60-year-old conference into a global brand, survived a ransomware attack on the morning of a show, led his professional association through a pandemic as board chair, and now oversees events, sales, and marketing for one of the most recognized societies in the world.
This is what it looks like to go wide from the inside.
What You'll Learn:
What was happening in the RISKWORLD command center in Atlanta that 9,000 attendees never saw
Why RIMS made their entire crisis after-action review public and what that decision cost them and gave them
How Stuart went from Director of Meetings and Events to Chief Commercial Officer at the same organization and what he had to learn that no job description ever mentions
The real story behind rebranding a 60-year-old conference, from the research and outside firms to the board conversation and the pandemic delay that almost derailed the launch
What RIMS' 365-day strategy actually looks like in practice, from selling next year's show before this year's show closes to building community beyond the four days on the floor
How RIMS thinks about event revenue as a percentage of total association income and what that accountability looks like for an event team
What event professionals fundamentally misunderstand about the business they are actually in
The one metric this industry is obsessed with that Stuart thinks tells us almost nothing (it is the room block and the reason will change how you think about destination ROI)
What association leaders say behind closed doors about events that never makes it into the conference presentation
Resources Mentioned:
RIMS Active Shooter Resources and After Action Review — the full report Stuart references about the 2023 Atlanta incident, including the minute-by-minute after action review and RIMS' security enhancements
Comprehensive Risk Management Guide: https://www.asaecenter.org/about-us/news_releases/2024-news-releases/asae-collaborates-with-industry-leaders-to-produce-comprehensive-risk-and-crisis-management-toolkit-for-associations
https://associationsnow.com/2023/05/how-one-association-handled-an-active-shooter-incident-in-conference-city/
Adam Grant — Think Again — the book Megan references in conversation with Stuart about rethinking assumptions
Connect with Megan Martin: LinkedIn | msquareddynamics.com | @M2Dynamics on social media
Connect with Stuart Ruff-Lyon: LinkedIn | RIMS.org
Have an event story or a Vent of the Week worth sharing? Submit it at eventaboutitpodcast.com for a chance to be featured on a future episode.
Until next time, stay curious.