22 Apr What will Post-Coronavirus Events Look Like?
BY TONY
APRIL, 2020
The most important question on event planners’ minds is what events will look like once the lockdowns especially in our major cities, Lagos and Abuja, have been lifted.
Let’s explore some potential scenarios of the aftermath of Covid-19.
The event industry remains one of the hardest hit by the coronavirus crisis. There are lots of unclear scenarios as regards to the industry, major uncertainties remains on the future of meetings and events.
For once, the pressure on the industry is at all-time high. To many events planners’, it’s not been an easy ride.
Most companies in the United States such as Microsoft have announced plans to suspend all live events until July 2021. While, Facebook joined the strategy by announcing the cancellation of all meetings above 50 attendees until June 2021.
Our current coronavirus recovery timeline reflects a scenario where things are frozen for the next few months.
Is that it?
Not really. Some meetings will indeed happen soon, maybe because of the necessities and importance of such meetings. The following analysis is an exploration:
1. What are the conditions for events to happen?
2. What types of events will happen?
3. What will those events look like?
1.The Conditions for Events to Happen
This is surely the most important phase for anyone in event planning and management. What is actually on the lips of everyone is when are we going into this phase, where our cities will be opened again?
However, one of the underlying conditions for events to take place is that the host city has entered what is commonly referred to as a ‘phase stage’ of the virus containment.
Phases refer to relaxing the virus containment controls, after the initial lockdown measures to flatten the curve show the first positive outcomes. Cases go down, hospitals start to breathe again.
This is surely the most discussed item on the agenda of many countries. With some saying opening up too soon may drive countries into relapse and others that keeping things closed may lead to a more substantial toll to pay for economies.
Last week, the US government released guidelines that break the return to normalcy into three phases. The Opening Up America Again document gives general principles that will apply to all future phases of business recovery, and that seem pertinent for events:
a. Social distancing and protective equipment
b. Temperature checks and other testing
c. Isolating, and contact tracing
d. Sanitation and disinfection of common and high-traffic areas
e. Policies and procedures for workforce contact tracing following positive coronavirus tests.
We can expect these phase one requirements to be in effect for any business activity to resume. Within phase one (the most immediate post-lockdown phase, currently scheduled for April 27th, 2020 in the three most affected states) LAGOS, ABUJA AND OGUN STATE, respectively, many of these conditions make event planning very complicated if not completely impracticable.
Specifically we may witness restrictions like:
a. Prohibiting groups larger than ten
b. Minimizing non-essential travel
c. Closing common areas (for employers)
However, states and regions with no evidence of a resurgence after a successful phase one may enter phase two, in which conditions for some types of events will begin:
a. Gatherings of more than 50 people should be avoided
b.Social distancing needs to be respected at all times
c. Nonessential travel can resume
Large venues can operate under moderate physical distancing protocols.
Phase three further relaxes the distancing measures for large venues but adds no context for gatherings. This indicates that large mass gatherings will still not likely be possible in phase three.
Therefore, based on these some recognized guidelines, the conditions for some events to happen seem to be linked to phase two, and that means no evidence of a resurgence of the virus after a successful phase one — effectively, an infection curve that has flattened out.
Even in this scenario, only some events will happen.
2.What Events Can Be Planned During Phase Two?
The hint is clear. Large events will suffer more than smaller events. Size of the audiences will matter through 2020 and maybe potentially into 2021.
For example, Facebook adhered to the US guidelines by canceling all live events of more than 50 people until June 2021.
For now, we are carefully permitted to say that small events are the immediate future of the events industry. What this means is that we are referring to meetings of 50 people max. Anything above that will be too risky or complex to plan.
There is still some degree of confusion about the guidelines as the relaxed measures on venues may invite questions on how to maximize space usage.
International travel will still suffer for a while with countries implementing different quarantine strategies. It is unlikely that attendees will be willing to potentially undergo 14 days of self-quarantine to attend a one or two-day event.
Therefore, the meetings that will take place in person will need to have a very strong reason to happen. They will be limited to domestic events and have virtual alternatives as a replacement until a breakthrough (vaccine, herd immunity or cure) materializes.
3. What Will Meetings Look Like?
Now onto the question every event professional has on the backs of their minds: What will these meetings look like?
There are a number of considerations on the health and safety aspects that will pile on top of the usual measures taken to run events.
Though there are definitely more that will surface as more information becomes available, we will try to itemize the most poignant ones, viz:
a. Insurance
b. Social Distancing
c. Thermal Scanning
d. Sanitation and Disinfection
e. Triage and Handling of Those Who Show
Symptoms
f. Vulnerable population managemen
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