24 Apr Post coronavirus Events and social distancing
A sure way to get your venues ready and returned to normalcy is the implementation of the social distancing friendly policy. This is a medium to create a safety around in-person events. But how will this look like especially with the first attempts? Will events be the same again or how will people get accustomed to this latest development?
As the pandemic coronavirus infections starts to peak in most cities across the country, continent and even the globe, industries especially the events industries maybe thinking of better ways to practically reopen businesses.
The events and hospitality industries are understandably eager to resume organizing in-person gatherings, and some venues are already working hard on making that happen as soon as possible.
However, the first thing that will happen is for our cities to be safer for any event to take place.
Restarting
Therefore, the first step is getting restarted. Last time, we were able to discuss some key issues bordering on what post coronavirus events will look like. In the course of that, it was state clearly the phases that must be met before events could return back to normalcy.
Lagos State is the commercial hub and the epicentre of commerce in the nation. With rapid and astronomical increase in the number of covid-19 patients in the state, events planner’s are really scared to their bone marrow as to when they will return back to business.
The question of when and how events will restart becomes more complex when taking into account the fact that not every communities or state at large in the federation is following the same outbreak timeline or the same protocols for lockdowns.
While May might seem dubiously early in some parts of Lagos, it represents a more realistic timeline for less hard-hit States. The initial recovery of events and hospitality in these places could serve as an important and instructive opportunity for the rest of the world to see what works and what doesn’t in a relatively lower-risk litmus test.
Impact and logistics
Some events planner’s across the globes are seriously speaking on the global impact the pandemic has had on the day to day running of business activities. According to one hotelier in a US hotel, Postillion, it’s all about 1.5m social distancing.
Postillion’s goal is to host the first 1.5 meter social distancing conference to showcase that social distancing events can be done, and that it’s important to prioritize them as soon as governments allow it. When that will be is still very much up in the air. The original date was May 18, but after a recent announcement to extend lockdown measures, the date is yet to be determined.
In the meantime, virtual events have gained traction and are helping to keep the industry afloat while live events are on hold. Even when the first physical events do resume, attendance will be limited and virtual components will be important for keeping events both financially viable and accessible to more delegates.
This could be applied here too when events and activities returns back to normalcy. It’s not going to be easy for the first time, but with time, we will all get used to such sitting arrangements.
In the meantime, virtual events have gained prominence and are helping to keep the industry afloat while live events are on hold. Even when the first physical events do resume, attendance will be limited and virtual components maybe be important for keeping events both financially viable and accessible to more delegates.
Cost
If events planner’s successfully implement the 1.5m social distancing arrangements, this event could lead to others. However, social distancing will force the events planner’s to operate at an estimated 20-40% capacity, and the cost of implementing a socially distant event could be prohibitively expensive. It has being noted that, in order to justify operating at such a low capacity, traditional business models will have to change.
This will be another huge challenge that venues and organizers would face in the return to normalcy, as the industry is experiencing deep financial hardship and virtual events may even prove safer and more economical. Devoting any additional budget for a safe venue may not be in the cards for many.
Conclusion
This pandemic has been an ongoing cycle of weighing public health against economic health, and while venues and event planners are waiting for official guidelines to ease up, getting people together again is a top priority for many and will be worth the potential risks of meeting in the initial post-lockdown stages.
There are still many unknowns around this virus, and although timelines for recovery are getting more concrete each week, no one knows for sure how things will play out.
The only reasonable way forward for event venues is to start preparing for long-term social distancing and safety measures once live events do resume, and to look to early adopters of these protocols to evaluate their viability and implement successful regulations.
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