You're facing a last-minute speaker cancellation at your conference. How do you salvage the event's success?

First, I will assess the situation quickly, try to determine the cause of this, and convey this information to the team in a positive manner to make everyone comfortable. Replace the speaker with another who is capable. In the event that no one is interested, I will take this opportunity as an opportunity to demonstrate my abilities. However, as part of the process of creating the presentation synopsis or preparing the documentation for the C level, some background research on the subject will be undertaken from my end. I will discuss the information that I am aware of in a healthy manner.

One way for me, is to be prepare and ask the speaker to record a session in advances (with Teams, Zoom or even with a smartphone). That way, at least you can show the video during the session, when the speaker is not present, and you can also use it after the session for social media. A lower coat version will be to ask a short paper to be share during the session. Or a presentation with voice over with PowerPoint or equivalent. If you did not to that from the beginning, you can play with Q&A or ask a speaker that could not be on the panel to take the mic from the floor. It is always nice to have some voice from the floor, and not every one from the podium.

Cada vez es más habitual tener Ponentes reserva en los grandes eventos. Estos ponentes no aparecen en la agenda y normalmente se incorporan al equipo de la organización, teniendo un rol importante, como presentador, moderador o similar

Cuando ocurre, hay que utilizar todos los medios de la organización para avisar de la incidencia y del cambio de planes. A veces, la ponencia suplente puede ser tan interesante o más que la titular para la audiencia

Como medida de protección, siempre es bueno disponer de ponencias de otros eventos similares en las que se hable de temas afines Pero no sólo quedarse ahí. Poder ofrecer comentarios sobre determinados puntos de la conferencia, para ponerlos en contexto puede ser un gran éxito de organización

Crear un espacio de lightning talks o vende tu producto, puede ser una gran alternativa, para que los asistentes se sientan un poco más parte de la conferencia y expongan a sus compa?eros los temas que son de su interés

First, cancellations or being late by speakers to events taught me to always have the alternative scenarios for the conference. For instance either we put the key note speaker at the beginning as introductory speech or at the end as some closing remarks. Second, if it's an event with several panel discussions, being flexible with the order and preventing other speakers of possible changes cam save your conference generally. Then, it's also possible to improvise with a bit of humor if relevant and it's better to have in mind several personalities for replacement (if the cancellation is at least few days before the event). The most important is not to see it as a tragedy but start looking for other solutions very quickly.