Eric Holmen is the CEO of Splash, a next-generation event marketing platform designed to help teams build and host virtual, in-person and hybrid events, to create memorable experiences, new connections and business value. He is an expert in marketing technology, and digitally-enabled engagement and connection, holding leadership positions in several notable experience technology companies, including most recently at Airship. In his two-decade marketing career, Holmen has managed and led all aspects of events, from executing and hosting to implementing enterprise-level event tech platforms.

After a historically challenging year for events and meetings professionals, things are finally starting to look up. Demand that was suppressed by restrictions on gatherings and other safety measures — to the tune of $10 billion (a 64% decline) last year in the U.S. trade show market alone — has begun to rebound. Vaccine availability and new CDC guidelines have made the prospect of in-person events appealing again for many. Having spent 2020 scrambling to adapt to virtual-only events, event professionals are now looking with relief toward a more “normal” near future.

But “normal” isn’t entirely accurate. COVID-19 has made the old event planning playbook obsolete. Even with rising demand and diminishing restrictions, organizers, attendees and staff need a new approach for getting the most out of events.

Individuals are reassessing their own risk thresholds as the threat of the virus wanes. Some feel free to resume all of their public interactions once vaccinated, while others remain cautious. The event professional’s task is to make every potential attendee feel safe however risk-tolerant they are. And that means building trust — trust that the event will be conducted safely, that rules and protocols will be communicated clearly and effectively, and that organizers will create a consistent level of comfort during the event. This means event professionals will need a persistent commitment to safety. Any post-pandemic event strategy will require careful planning around three key areas: pre-event, on-site and post-event.

Pre-Event

Venue

Choosing a venue has always been a central component of pre-event planning, with plenty of variables to consider. Availability, cost, location and accessibility, room capacity, room layout, amenities and desirability all factor in selecting the perfect locale. Now, safety capabilities will compound those considerations.

Event organizers will want to ask potential venues about their cleaning and air filtration processes, the ability of the space to support social distancing, and their COVID-specific safety policies for their frontline staff. To ensure maximum safety and enable event organizers to communicate that level of safety to attendees, venues should have documented cleaning and disinfecting processes. They should also document their air filtration process for all indoor spaces, including the number of air exchanges per hour and the ratio of recirculated air to fresh.

A venue with plenty of outdoor space is preferable, but may not be not ideal for some events. That’s why venues must also ensure enough space in indoor areas to have a socially distanced check-in line. They should also have the ability to direct traffic flow with signs or markings. And if a venue provides third-party vendors, venue management should have the ability to confirm whether they follow the same safety policies as venue staff.

Safety Protocols

Once event organizers have vetted their chosen venue in terms of safety, they need to define their own safety protocols for the event. These are likely to shift somewhat based on the individual event and local guidance, but all safety protocols should consider the following:

Testing & Timing Requirements

Will you require a negative test for attendance, and if so, which kind?

Vaccine Requirements

Will you require attendees to be vaccinated or exempt vaccinated attendees from testing? How will you verify proof of vaccination?

Symptom Checks

Do you want to perform a symptom screening survey or temperature checks? If so, where and how often?

PPE Usage/Mask Requirements. What PPE will you require for both staff and attendees, and under what circumstances?

Violation Reporting

Will attendees have a way to report when protocols aren’t followed, and how will you handle violations?

Building Trust

Selecting a venue with the right capabilities and having your own safety protocols are crucial, but equally important is communicating these to your potential attendees. One tactic event organizers should take no matter their event protocol: Distribute an event code of conduct to ensure thorough, transparent communication. No attendee should arrive without knowing what is considered mandatory versus preferred.

But what about inter-attendee trust? Those who attend events must trust not only the organizers and venue, but other attendees. Do attendees know each other? Are they confident others will follow protocol? Can they ask those questions of one another?

That kind of trust isn’t developed at a welcome cocktail hour. But you can build it beforehand if you provide clarity on rules and attendees and their statuses (vaccinated, negative tests, etc.).

On-Site

Communicating Effectively

The mandate for transparent communication is perhaps most critical during the event itself. Event signage should indicate and reinforce the safety measures and communicate expectations and rules to attendees clearly and succinctly. Check-in table signage should reflect any testing or verification requirements or direct attendees to where these should happen. For large or multi-day events, event organizers may have access to an attendee mobile app they can leverage to push messages and updates to attendees throughout the event. For any critical communications, emails should be sent if there isn’t 100% adoption of the mobile app.

On-site communication helps to reassure attendees that the appropriate safety measures are in place. But it also reiterates their role in ensuring their own health and safety. That helps them feel more in control and involved in the process, and breeds trust.

Post-Event

Testing and Maintaining Open Lines of Dialogue

Event organizers know that what happens in the weeks following your event is just as important as what happens pre-event and on-site. In normal times, that’s when the business results from an event are most likely to materialize — new meetings or demos scheduled, and new deals signed. In the COVID era, though, event organizers may also choose to offer post-event testing. Administering tests to non-vaccinated attendees at the end of the event may not generate immediate results, but organizers might decide to provide self-administered take-home tests.

Either way, if attendees report testing positive after the event, organizers need to have a way to notify other attendees and conduct basic contact tracing. If the groundwork has been laid for effective attendee communication — relevant and consistent pre-event emails, event app adoption, attendee activity tracking — then maintaining open lines of dialogue regarding positive tests should be readily achievable.

Event organizers are rightfully excited to welcome the return of in-person events. As the shadow of COVID lingers, embracing relevant pre-event, on-site and post-event safety protocols will continue to be a crucial part of their planning process. But the most critical component of all will be building and maintaining trust among attendees. And that will pay off in more ways than hosting a safe and comfortable event.    C&IT