Do parades and other big events interrupt your work?

Reporter Rebecca Berfanger contributed this blog.

In 2006, when I was working for another publication in downtown Indianapolis, I remember hearing a number of parades go by the offices on weekdays.

While that might sound like fun, usually it served as a cruel reminder that while I was busy working, thousands of other people were reveling just outside. This was particularly true on St. Patrick’s Day.

While our staff could, on our somewhat extended lunch break, catch some of the parade while eating corned beef sandwiches, we weren’t exactly allowed to join the festivities of others who were standing outside one of the many pubs along the parade route.

And while it was fun while it lasted, we eventually had to go back to the office for the rest of the afternoon.

I recall another St. Patrick’s Day since I began working at IL. I hadn’t thought much of the parade that day, but on my way back to the office from a meeting a few miles north of downtown, I remember that the closer to the parade route I got, I noticed more adults and children who had even their pets and strollers decked out in green.

I tried not to stress out while I waited much, much longer than usual in traffic, even though I was traveling on my super secret side streets that I take as a shortcut to avoid traffic.

So with today being St. Patrick’s Day, and the parade just wrapping up as I write this, it made me wonder if this parade or any others that take place during a weekday – Veterans’ Day also comes to mind – have any effect on business, particularly law firms, that are on or near a parade route.

Is it as simple as telling clients to be aware of detours caused by the parade route and where to find parking? If your firm is on or near a parade route, do you plan meetings around it? If you have a meeting with an attorney near a parade route, do you try to schedule accordingly? Has a parade ever caused you to be late? Do you or your firm have similar issues regarding parking and logistics when there are other big events downtown, such as the recent Big Ten tournament or one of many conferences? Are you concerned at all about next year’s Super Bowl festivities?

Or did your office more or less give in to the celebratory spirit of the day and shut down for employees to see the St. Patrick’s Day parade and maybe enjoy a few green drinks or a Guinness chocolate cupcake?