The arrival of Covid vaccines and their positive results have revived event organizers' hopes. We can now allow ourselves to be optimistic about the future of events. Despite all the precautions required by such a sensitive topic as health, we should be able to resume invitations to in-person events as early as summer 2021.
In this context, how can we prepare responsibly for the return of these events, under the best possible conditions?
1. Brainstorm with your vendors and partners
It's always very enriching to see how other companies in the industry are preparing. Everyone has the same goal, but ideas need to build on each other.
Why not get together, first with other event organizers, and more broadly with your regular vendors and companies in the events industry, to think collectively about the best practices to put in place and the different event formats?
Everyone will surely have something to contribute to the group, and everyone will benefit from the communication and exchanges created. These shared experiences will help you understand the full range of issues that the return to in-person events involves (from maintaining safe distances to arranging rapid tests on site, etc.).
Prepare specific questions about each stage of the event to ask your partners and gather best practices both before and after the event. This multidirectional communication can only lead to good ideas that everyone can then adapt to their own situation.
2. Define a health protocol for your event
An event health protocol reassures your attendees while making sure you comply with the required health standards. It's therefore a mandatory step for anyone looking to resume organizing in-person events!
Keep in mind that health passes are becoming a must in events. Set up a way to scan them quickly, with kiosks or greeting staff and digital equipment.
Whether it's distributing hand sanitizer and masks, marking distance guidelines and floor lines, or posting reminders of basic hygiene measures, all these steps are necessary (even if obvious) when you need to reassure your audience. This also applies to hybrid events!
To take it further, don't hesitate to check your guests' temperature with a thermal thermometer at the entrance of the event, or ask your caterer for individual service to avoid crowds at bars and food counters. All these measures matter even more if you're organizing a large event, such as a seminar or a B2B trade show. Don't lose sight of your goal of reassuring people about the event's safety.
Of course, favor large, well-ventilated reception and dining spaces as much as possible.
Here is a document to help you get a clearer picture and properly organize your protocol.
3. Start as early as possible with small-scale essential events
The first events will likely be small in scale. Large events require a lot of resources, a lot of organization, and a lot of setup time. They're also less flexible and therefore less open to change.
In a context that remains uncertain while we wait to see how the situation evolves, it's all the more important to carefully segment and personalize your future (small) events, while larger events gradually make their comeback.
Start small, see how the situation evolves, then scale up.
When this virus subsides, like any epidemic, the recovery will be sudden. So it's important to plan today for the vendors you'll need in the future, before everything opens up and they get flooded with orders. Don't hesitate to negotiate rates in advance and lock in availability while you still have leverage.
These smaller formats will help re-accustom an audience that hasn't traveled to an event in over a year (!) to trust this format again, and to rediscover its strengths: human contact.
4. Consider every aspect of reassurance...
First, you should communicate as much as possible about your health protocol to reassure people about the safety of your event.
Don't forget to put yourself in an attendee's shoes: what arguments, what formats would convince you to attend an event? For you to go to an event during this period, what measures should be in place? Temperature checks at the entrance, capacity limits, disinfection, etc.
Ask yourself how to create a pleasant atmosphere without neglecting safety. Keep in mind that attendees will travel less, so you need to offer them events that address their deeper concerns: key topics that directly affect the sustainability of their business.
And not just compliance with the health standards that people expect when events return.
Think about the emotional benefit your event will convey. What emotions do you want your attendees to feel? What measures and activities will you put in place to achieve those feelings?
It's important that your attendees no longer feel the "pressure" of being surrounded by other people, or that this pressure is reduced as much as possible.
In advance, plan out different scenarios and the appropriate courses of action: if scenario 2 occurs (for example, one of the guests has too high a temperature), what measures will you take to address it? Then share these scenario-based procedures with your health and safety officers.
Appoint a health and safety officer who will be responsible for ensuring compliance with government obligations and recommendations, and who will take the appropriate measures on the day. These officers can be part of the organizing team directly. In particular, this person will need to make sure that hosts and hostesses follow the protocol properly.
Conclusion
- Brainstorm with your partners and vendors to get an aligned vision and shared ideas on the best practices to put in place.
- Define a health protocol and communicate about it
- Start small to avoid taking too many risks, learn from your mistakes, and gradually increase the scale of your events as you gain enough experience and perspective to make good decisions.
- Create a journey that's as stress-free as possible for your attendees throughout the event, while still putting sufficient standards in place. Anticipate different scenarios, and prepare your teams to know the procedure for each one.
