Many people are currently at home with a lot of questions about their upcoming wedding, birthday, corporate event, festival, or any other type of event. Besides the obvious doubts about whether these events will be allowed to take place, the question also rises in what form it would be when allowed. It is apparent to most that big festivals and other mass events won’t take place in the months to come. But at the same time, humans remain social creatures, so a full lockdown cannot go on indefinitely either. It is therefore up to municipalities, businesses, and event organizers to find a way to address these needs in a suitable manner once the safety council will allow for small events to take place (which hopefully happens soon after phase 3). In a series of posts, it will be discussed how we think events will look like, and how you, as an organization, can adapt your event to the current situation and changing rules.
One event, multiple locations
One measure which, unfortunately, will be staying with us for a while is the limit in numbers of visitors allowed. In the coming months, events will thus have to be much smaller than before. But smaller also means more intimate! It is very efficient to invite your business partners and customers or family and friends all at once to one big party, but unfortunately, the time available for a good conversation is limited in those situations. When you would like to organize a pop-up event as a company, the message you want to convey will connect with your fans and customers much better when there is only a small crowd present. In order to still reach a larger crowd, you could spread your event over multiple days and locations, with different guests at every occurrence. An event that usually hosts an entire city could be organized per neighborhood, for example. When you do so don’t forget to take into account that you will need a set-up which can be easily installed and dismantled, to enable you to be ready on a new location every new day.
Be prepared to adapt
There is another reason why you would want to consider a flexible and fast set-up for your event. The lockdown rules seem to get less strict right now, but the second wave of corona infections could easily turn this around again. Some events will therefore receive a permit or might be prohibited, at the shortest possible notice. In such insecure times, you would not want to take days to set up big tents or structures, with a credible risk that the event won’t be allowed to take place after all. Events will thus have to be set up within a much shorter timeframe. A smart event manager will therefore choose structures that can be installed in as little time as possible, but that still provide the desired robustness and aesthetics.
But above all
Do not let the uncertain times and the above-mentioned considerations discourage you when organizing an event. People will need the fun and the social interactions of events now more than ever! Visitors and guests will therefore also be more flexible in accepting the measures you are taking, for they also realize that it is an unfortunate part of our new reality. But, with the right preparations and the right materials, these smaller events can still make a huge success out of the coming summer.