Ben Snell
When an emergency or unforeseen circumstance arises, sometimes the reality is that the show can’t go on. So, how do you pivot to cancel an event or execute a plan B?
In this guide, we’ll take some of the load off and give you actionable steps to take, whether you’re currently dealing with an emergency or making a plan for the future.
And if you are currently in the midst of an emergency, please know, from all of us at Spektrix, that we’re wishing you well and you have our support. If you’re a Spektrix client, contact our support team if you need anything and we are ready to help.
Deciding to cancel or reschedule an event
After weeks, months, or even years of planning, deciding to cancel an event or show can feel heartbreaking and maybe even impossible. But, sometimes it is the best thing to do, and you may find yourself with little or no choice.
Here are some questions to ask as you weigh the decision:
- Will our audience be able to safely and comfortably attend the event?
- Will our staff/performers be able to safely and comfortably come to work the event?
- Would hosting our event prevent first responders and emergency services from doing what they need to do? Be sure to consider proximity to the situation and traffic created by your event.
- Do we anticipate that a large portion of our audience won’t be able to attend the event?
- Are different segments of our audience impacted in different ways? For example, there might be a situation that is only affecting one geographic area within your community, to whom you could send a targeted ticket refund offer but keep your event open to others.
- How does our refund policy work? Are there adjustments we would want to make to it in light of the current circumstances? In the US, many payment processors have hard limits on what the refund window can be, so be sure to check what you are able to do.
- How many refunds can we process for this event before we lose money on it? And, how does that number change depending on if we cancel or keep it on?
- Who takes the financial hit if an event is canceled? If it's an external promotion, you'll need to speak to promoters and refer to your contract with them to check where the decision and financial liability sits.
- Is there a reputation risk to acting in a “business as usual way” during the current situation?
- Would hosting this event be healing for our community? Or, is there a way that we could adjust it to be?
- Are we able to host this event virtually?
- What would it take to postpone this event instead of canceling outright?
Ultimately, any decision you make with care is the right one. Your community is in it with you, and with the right operational and communications practices, they will understand.
Communicate to your customers in a clear and timely way
Communication is one of the most critical parts of thinking through how to cancel a show. Once you’ve made the decision whether to cancel or reschedule – or to go on as planned – the next step is to communicate the plan to attendees, staff, performers, and your wider community.
If you are canceling on short notice, you may want to prioritize communicating the cancelation before you work out the details around ticket refunds or the rescheduled date. You can simply let customers know that the event has been canceled and that you’ll be in touch soon with more details about next steps.
How should we inform attendees about a canceled event?
This is likely the easiest and most direct way of contacting the people you need to. Use your CRM to send a targeted blast to people who have bought tickets to this event and make sure they have the information they need.
Text message
This is one of the best ways to reach customers quickly, directly, and with little interruption to them. However, your organization will need to have set up additional SMS messaging software beforehand.
Phone calls
Write out a phone script for anyone who is answering calls, or record a message to your box office’s voicemail. Depending on the size of your event, the capacity of your staff, and the timing, you may consider making phone calls to attendees as a way to add a personal touch. You can choose to call only VIP guests or major donors and use the tags in your CRM to build out the right list.
Website / Social media
Once you’ve emailed attendees, you can post the same message to these channels to amplify the message, if needed.
Event listing
Don’t forget to mark the event as canceled in your ticketing software to prevent new ticket sales. Post your cancelation message to the listing page as well.
How do I write an email canceling an event?
The more clear and direct you can be with your customers, the better. Here’s a simple formula for crafting your message:
- Briefly and calmly explain the situation
- Say outright that the show has been canceled/postponed
- Express sympathy for anyone impacted by the emergency, if applicable
- Apologize for any inconvenience
- Offer a full refund and let customers know what their options are
- Provide a realistic deadline based on the circumstances and an easy route to communicate any choices they need to make per your refund policy e.g. “Reply to this email and tell us what you’d like to do by March 1st.” or link to a simple form that they can fill out
- Answer any FAQs that you are ready to answer
Example of an event cancelation email
Here’s an easy event cancelation email template you can start with:
Subject: Canceled - [Name of Show and Date/time]
Dear [First Name],
Due to the [name of situation or “inclement weather”], tonight’s event [name of event] has been canceled. We hope you are safe and our thoughts are with the members of our community who have been impacted.
We apologize for any inconvenience. Here are your options for next steps:
A) Receive a full refund for your tickets.
B) Exchange your tickets for a future show
C) Receive a credit that can be applied to future shows.
D) Donate the cost of your ticket as a way to support our organization’s programming, support, and community outreach [include details about anything your organization does in the community or a specific relief fund]Please let us know which you prefer by [date of deadline] by replying to this email [or filling out this form].
Thank you in advance for your understanding, and we hope that we’ll be able to see you soon.
With care,
[Your name and venue information]
Establish the refund, exchange, or donation policy
Naturally, one of the biggest questions customers have will be about recouping the money from their ticket. You will need to create a clear policy for this situation that makes it easy for your customers and your staff to understand what the options are.
Canceling an event doesn’t always mean losing out on all the ticket sales revenue from it. Within your policy, you can bake in ways for customers to continue supporting your organization.
So, as you craft your policy, consider:
- Can tickets be exchanged to alternative performances, or will they need to be refunded?
- Do you want to encourage customers to choose an account credit refund in order to minimize your lost revenue? If so, it’s good to know your account credit policy, for example - how long is it valid for, what can it be redeemed against.
- If you’re a non-profit, in certain circumstances you could consider asking customers to donate some or all of their ticket value back to your organization.
- If you’re asking customers to choose whether they want refunds or exchanges, how long are you going to wait after sending an email before you follow up with a phone call?
- What is a realistic time frame for completing refunds and/or exchanges?
- How long ago are customers likely to have purchased tickets?
Once you know what your refund policy is and you’ve communicated it to your audience, it’s time to start processing refunds.
Every ticketing software will have a different process for how to process refunds. At the basic level, you’ll want to:
- Generate a list of customers whose ticket has been impacted
- Document their decision on whether they want a refund, an exchange, or to make a donation (if applicable)
- Go through and mark off once each refund/exchange has been processed by your staff
Take everything one step at a time, and work with your creative team and your promoters to support your customers, your staff, and your community. When you’re ready, you can run a report in your CRM to fully understand what the financial loss of the cancelation was.
Emergency resources for Spektrix users
If you use Spektrix as your CRM, we’ve put together a list of resources with detailed guidance on how to cancel events, communicate with customers, and more using your system.
- Communicate with your customers:
- Modify or cancel events:
- Reschedule, refund, or exchange tickets:
- Access Spektrix remotely: Because your Spektrix system is cloud-based, your team can access it any time, from any browser using these steps to log in.
Preparing for future emergencies and cancelations
We advise that arts and live events organizations create an action plan for emergencies to have on hand. Shortly after you’ve dealt with a situation, it can help to jot down some notes on what you might need for next time and iterate from there.
As you build out your emergency plan, ask your team:
- Who is responsible for which tasks when an emergency arises? Who decides if we should cancel an event?
- What is our standard refund/exchange policy for canceled events? What other situations would trigger changes to our normal refund policy?
- What do we need in order to access our software, systems, and email accounts remotely? Who would need that access? Spektrix is cloud-based, so it can be accessed from anywhere at any time, but other systems may require that you make arrangements beforehand.
- What templates or contact lists can we prepare now to help with quick messaging? A standard cancelation message that you can simply update and fire off at moment’s notice can save a ton of time.
- Should we set up software to send SMS messages to customers? If you have frequent cancelations or operate outdoor events that are more susceptible to the weather, this could be an especially worthwhile investment to help you communicate quickly.
- What training does our team need? Does everyone know the processes for how to cancel an event?
- What documentation can we prepare now? Having a written guide can help with quick decision-making and execution of tasks during unusual or changing circumstances. Additionally, gather step-by-step guidance for any critical tasks (like the resources above) so that anyone in your organization can pick them up if the person who usually does them is unavailable or busy with other crisis functions.
- What key contact information and quick links do we want to have available for emergencies?
- What support can you expect from your ticketing software provider if you need to act quickly in difficult circumstances?
We’ve designed Spektrix to help arts and events leaders confidently make decisions as circumstances change. If your marketing, fundraising, or ticketing software is coming up as a blocker in your emergency plan, get in touch with us.
And finally, here’s a word of encouragement, as any situation in which you may have to cancel an event is stressful. It’s okay to not have all the answers right away or to get something wrong. Take deep breaths. You’ve got this.
