Need to make sure your next meeting is safe for attendees? Use the playbook from Riskworld 2025. Its web site covers everything from security at McCormick Place Convention Center, where the event took place last week with nearly 11,000 attendees, to business travel safety.
There’s information on emergency procedures, a list of prohibited items (including firearms and explosives, but also things like pamphlets deemed disruptive to the event), a directory of nearby urgent care facilities and pharmacies, and a custom video created for attendees.
Many of the tips apply to attendees at any conference: ‘Remove your registration badge when you leave the convention center;’ ‘Do not display hotel guest room keys in public;’ and ‘Only use the main entrance of your hotel.’
Preparing for the Unknown
It’s hard to identify the single biggest threat to a large event like Riskworld because there are so many, said Stuart Ruff-Lyon, chief events and sales officer at RIMS, the risk management society, which puts on the annual conference — the world’s largest gathering of global risk professionals.
RIMS had to activate its own crisis management plan in 2023 when a fatal shooting in Atlanta forced the organizers to cancel the final day of the conference at the Georgia World Congress Center, about two and a half miles away. With the shooter, who killed one and injured four, still at large, they sent home 9,000 attendees and 300 exhibitors.
“Violence and cyberattacks remain a top concern,” Ruff-Lyon said. “But it isn’t always threats that we have to address. When you bring thousands of people to one location, event organizers are bound to have attendees experience illnesses, weather concerns, challenging facility layouts, complicated shuttle routes, and other potential obstacles that are unique to the destination.”
Multifaceted Security Plan
RIMS employs security guards during the show to monitor entrances and exits to the convention center. Merrill Herzog, whose team includes former members of the U.S. Intelligence Community and U.S. Special Operations, manages on-site security for Riskworld. Chicago police and medical staff are also on site during the conference.
“In addition to those key players, everyone from our shuttle bus providers to our housing vendors are involved in security calls leading up to Riskworld, as well as taking part in the on-site security walk-through the day before the show begins,” Ruff-Lyon said.
The entire RIMS staff pitches in to help. “We count on their eyes and ears to address issues before they escalate.”
Riskworld is also the first conference in the world to use a smart, incident-response technology called Gabriel Protects, which allows an attendee to notify the security command center of an issue, then provides instant communication to the attendee and visual surveillance of the area.
Challenges With Changing Locations
RIMS changes up its risk management plan for Riskworld every year. “When a large-scale event moves from location to location annually, the biggest change is the security team itself,” said Ruff-Lyon. “Moving from the San Diego Convention Center to McCormick Place in Chicago required RIMS and the security team to assess the layout of the new convention center, understand where egresses were, and devise a plan that made the most sense.”
Then they had to make sure everyone was on board, from convention center leaders, to city executives, to the local police force.
After the show, the organizers do a recap with all the partners and then start preparing six months out for the next year’s show (to be held in Philadelphia May 3-6, 2026).
