Smith & Nephew – America, the Iraq War and the Show That Still Had to Happen

Contingency planning becomes real when the entire production is stuck at the docks.

The challenge

In March 2003 Comtec travelled to the United States to deliver an international conference for Smith & Nephew. The full production had been shipped from the UK in a container. Then the Iraq war began. Ports and customs tightened and the shipment containing the production equipment was held at the docks. The event was approximately two days away and delegates were already arriving.

The thinking

Before leaving the UK, Comtec had identified and costed two local production suppliers as contingency options. That preparation suddenly became the difference between having a problem and having a route to a show. The priority was not to wait and hope the container would be released; it was to rebuild the production locally.

The solution

The team activated local suppliers and sourced the remaining construction materials, tools, fixings and practical items locally. Stage and production support were hired, suitable non-flammable materials in the client’s colours were sourced, and the set, backstage wings, stage and carpeted presentation environment were rebuilt on site.

The team worked for around 18 hours with very little sleep, combining locally hired technical equipment with newly sourced materials and the original show plan. By the following morning the production was ready for rehearsal.

The result

The conference went ahead and the client received the event it had expected despite the original production shipment being unavailable. The experience became a lasting example of why Comtec plans for failure before failure happens.

Comtec principle

Have a backup plan – and then have a backup for the backup.