There is nothing about planning a meeting or event – from selecting destinations and venues, comprehending contract language, taking care in the food that is served, to preparing to "house in place" during a disaster – that is not risky business. At meetings, the unimaginable (tornadoes, food poisoning, illness, or death) and "paper cuts" (lost shipments, speaker cancellations, running out of food) happen. Yet planners and their venue and vendor partners are unprepared for emergencies and simple contingencies. What are we waiting for? Why do we continue to believe that "it" won’t happen to our meeting at "that" facility? What keeps us from preparing for contingencies? As "Katrina General", Lt. Gen. Russel Honoré (US Army ret.) said: "We must create a culture of preparedness."