When the President of the United States announces that he plans to attend a conference, you, the manager of the conference site, will lose much of the control you usually have. The success of the conference will be credited to you only in part. Its failure may be your undoing.
Typical security is not enough. Even enhanced security is not enough. The Secret Service will take charge and will dictate (in a non-dictatorial way*) exactly what it will do and exactly what is required from local sources. The security chief of the conference center will become little more than an answer man/woman.
Downtown traffic will probably be diverted for a time, and the local populace will grouse about the discomfort. Politicians will feel heat. Those who side with the President will stand tall in defense. Those in the other party will point out excesses.
Lodging requirements, beyond those of the presidential entourage itself (discussed in my previous entry), will mushroom as the Press, protestors, and seekers-of-the-spotlight will converge from all sides, whether related to the topic of the conference or not. If the conference is on a hot topic, expect hordes.
All the while, you are tasked with setting up the conference to fit the needs of its organizers, complete with the dais, risers, screens, audio-visual, electrical, accreditation, identification, airport courtesies, translators, interpreters, and more, as if the President weren't coming (because he might not, in the end), but not stepping on the toes of the White House Advance Team, the Secret Service Advance Team, the mayor's office (which will surely have a representative assigned to the event), the governor's office (ditto), and the needs of the Press, Press, Press. Room for photo opportunities, room for filing centers, room for interviews, ...
These last two entries are only to provoke discussion. I would love to hear from managers who have handled the White House, whether the result was good or evil. (I recognize that few current managers would dare speak ill of the White House when the chance exists that they might come back.) i also invite comment from former WHCA and Secret Service personnel, all in the vein of helping conference managers to better handle such a monumental and potentially catastrophic presence.
* My personal experiences with the Secret Service were always pleasant. They didn't puch their 500-gorilla status, though they were unwavering in their requirements. The only scary element were the Counter-Assault guys, but they preferred to keep to themselves.
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