Given a fixed budget and a 15% drop in expected attendance three months out, propose a plan to preserve event quality while minimizing financial loss. What changes would you model first, and which metrics would you use to evaluate trade-offs?

I’d treat this like a short-term P&L remodel. First I quantify the gap: a 15% attendance decline on $400k projected ticket revenue is a $60k shortfall. I model variable line items first — F&B, per-attendee swag, and session rooms — because they scale directly and typically represent ~30% of budget. Next I negotiate 10–20% reductions with vendors and explore consolidating parallel sessions to save venue and AV costs without cutting core content. Concurrently I pursue quick revenue offsets: upsell 200 virtual passes at $150 or secure two additional mid-tier sponsors at $15k each. I evaluate trade-offs using cost-per-attendee, net margin, sponsor ROI (leads generated), and attendee NPS. Within two weeks I’d finalize a revised budget and vendor agreements, tracking weekly until the event.