Holland America's response with this unexpected delay made me think about how our associations treat members when the unexpected happens.
If you've travelled the Top Of The World highway, you clearly know the meaning of desolate!
Holland America's emergency system took over. (First item I noticed was that the bus driver pulled a satellite phone from an emergency kit.)
What about your association? Problems at a hotel? Weather forcing a delay to the start of meetings? Transmission problems delaying a webinar? Wrong call-in number for a meeting?
In witnessing the Holland America team, I was reminded of the importance of pre-planning, systems backups and crisis communications planning.
Remember, from your member and participant point of view:
- Chicken, Alaska, an isolated (100+ miles from nearest cell signal) "way station" of 37 people is a hard hour drive from Tok, the nearest village.
- TOTWH is a winding, narrow 1 1/2 lane gravel mountain-top road. Because it is so narrow, a "pilot truck" escorted us to warn oncoming vehicles of our "wide load" and alerted our driver to oncoming traffic.
Holland America's emergency system took over. (First item I noticed was that the bus driver pulled a satellite phone from an emergency kit.)
- After confirming the problem, they marshaled the second bus in our convoy to get us back to Chicken and its three buildings and equipped with four "modern" outhouses. Could have been a major customer service problem. Meanwhile, they dispatched a relief bus from Dawson City (about 3 hours away). Our tour guide offered to show a movie via her laptop (yes, about half the group took her up on it!).
- Throughout the delay, the Holland America rep kept us updated on the process (including a delay in the arrival of the relief bus). And, when we arrived in our hotel room in Dawson, we all found a letter from Holland America giving each of us $50 per person credit for our delay. Classy!
What about your association? Problems at a hotel? Weather forcing a delay to the start of meetings? Transmission problems delaying a webinar? Wrong call-in number for a meeting?
In witnessing the Holland America team, I was reminded of the importance of pre-planning, systems backups and crisis communications planning.
Remember, from your member and participant point of view:
- It’s not what happens that matters, it’s how your association responds.
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