The return to in-person events

This week has seen many new events announced for the coming months. With indoor festival ‘experiments’ taking place in Liverpool and the gradual reopening of the UK now in motion, the future of events is looking brighter…but don’t uncross those fingers just yet!

So what are some of the key considerations when thinking about the return to in-person events?

1. Guest confidence - This may impact numbers but do keep the conversation going with your donors. This is an opportunity to build and strengthen your relationship with them. There will be many things that you can talk to them about to demonstrate that they can attend safely, in line with government restrictions – from social distancing measures to food safety and hygiene.
2. Social distancing or testing measures - Staggered arrivals, lower capacities, masks in communal spaces, smaller table sizes and you may also want to consider on-site testing and proof of vaccination. Note that some of these may be legal requirements and others may be optional…
3. National restrictions - Useful guidance is at the link here, updated regularly as part of the roadmap for events to include essential and optional actions for events managers.
4. Cancellation policies - Most venues and suppliers will have updated their policies to reflect more flexibility in light of Covid. That said, it’s even more critical that you take the time to review your contracts in detail and ideally get legal expertise to ensure you reduce the risk.
5. Budgets - Aside from lower numbers, be aware that budgets may be tighter for many corporates and individual guests may have been impacted financially by Covid. Similarly, implementing some of the above measures can be costly so think carefully about how you can make other savings without compromising the guest experience, in order to maintain a healthy ROI.
6. Hybrid options or virtual contingency - We all know that nothing is predictable right now and we remain in a very uncertain world. So if you can hold multiple dates with venues, it’s worth doing so! You might also want to continue offering a way to engage online if guests are unable or unwilling to attend in person and if plans are scuppered entirely, think about how you can shift quickly back to delivering a virtual experience.

If the last 12 months have taught us anything, it’s that events managers are resilient! We have navigated the ever-changing circumstances and found solutions to help us deliver exceptional events online.

We’ve got this and if you have any questions along the way don’t hesitate to let us know.

Team Emma