Getting Back to In-Person Events (with care & consideration)
At ELE, we love in-person events! Of course, when the pandemic changed everything, we adapted - and did a darn good job, if we say so ourselves! But there’s nothing like attending an event IRL (in real life, that is!).
In the US, we’ve been fortunate to have an effective vaccine program and, as of this writing, in most states and cities, life is slowly returning to some semblance of normal for the vaccinated. Many of our friends, colleagues, and clients are starting to plan in-person events once again.
HERE ARE SOME OF OUR LEARNINGS AS WE GET BACK IN THE IN-PERSON GROOVE:
MAKE YOUR EVENT COVID CONSCIENCE & COMFORTABLE
Although vaccination rates are high and COVID restrictions have been lifted in much of the US, everyone has a different comfort level with public settings. New COVID variants continue to pose risks and can influence people’s decisions to attend events. Keep masks, hand sanitizer, and the local guidelines on hand. You may consider sending a survey to all participants before the event asking about their COVID comfort levels and vaccine status (if legal to do so in the state) so you can make accommodations for wary attendees. Think about using more outdoor spaces and have a plan to pivot to a virtual event if local guidelines change and include those contingency plans in your event marketing.
IN-PERSON AND VIRTUAL: GO HYBRID & MAKE YOUR EVENT ACCESSIBLE!
We all learned how to host virtual events, and pretty well (how many Zoom backgrounds did you download?!) You may consider making all or some future events hybrid - in-person & virtual - allowing people with disabilities, family commitments, budget constraints, scheduling conflicts, etc. to participate. In the planning process, make sure the Audio/Visual technology is optimized for in-person and virtual audiences and test it ahead of time. Develop ways for virtual and in-person participants to interact, and be sure to build it into your event’s run-of-show and talking points for those speaking. Have a frank conversation with your organization and its stakeholders about what content can be effective virtually and what is irreplaceable in-person and plan accordingly. To lure in-person attendees, you may plan more engaging programming like a happy hour with craft cocktails, a themed scavenger hunt, or a VIP meet-n-greet. You may also consider programming that is simultaneously engaging for virtual and in-person participants like live-streaming a mindfulness session, throwing a movie screening, hosting trivia, and so on.
INTENTIONALLY BUILD IN SPACE & TIME FOR READJUSTMENT
Everyone is readjusting to the post-COVID world. When designing your event, take a step back from your inclination to jam pack the schedule. Allow participants more time to get from one session to the next, build in more opportunities for people to reconnect in more spaces - outside, inside, small, and large spaces if possible, and through breakout sessions. Intentionally ask your staff to have more patience with attendees and vendors while giving the staff some grace as they’re adjusting too - we’re all in this together.
