The Coronavirus pandemic has altered our normal daily activities and interactions. Due to its contagious nature, many health organizations gave strict guidelines to help curb the spread of the deadly virus. Many jurisdictions also implemented lockdown measures that helped in reducing COVID 19 cases; however, the new normal has proven to be rather straining on many economies. Numerous businesses have been forced to downscale or completely shut down, with restaurants and event planning industries being among the hardest hit. Now that health organizations have learned a lot about the virus, life seems to be slowly returning to normality.
The event planning industry has made numerous changes and readjustments on how to properly conduct their business. If you have an event but lack a team of professionals to help you organize it, be sure to check out SYNC Productions. The company has a specialized team and state of the art equipment that can help you to successfully host an event.
Even though many countries and businesses are opening up, daily operations have certainly changed. Since one of the catalysts that enhance the spread of COVID 19 are social gatherings, there has to be a lot of care when planning an event. The following are some of the guidelines you can follow when planning for your next event.
Formulate An SOP For Your Operation
The first step to ensuring safety at your event is formulating a standard operating procedure (SOP) on how the entire event is supposed to be conducted. This will give clear guidelines to the people who will be facilitating the entire event. You should set up handwashing points that can be accessed by both guests and staff. Additionally, people have to wear their personal protective equipment and observe social distancing guidelines. Your staff should also disinfect the venue before, during as well as after the event especially on areas that are touched by people the most. Restrooms are usually facilities that have high traffic; thus, delegate a person who will be controlling the access to these facilities.
Selection Of Venue
Before the Coronavirus pandemic, event planners had the liberty to choose any location they want to host the event. However, the narrative has since changed and anyone looking to host an event is forced to look for outdoor or open-air spaces. These were guidelines stipulated by the CDC and the WHO to help keep people safe. Additionally, it’s important for event organizers to reconfigure the seating arrangements during these times. The layout has to be well spaced and eliminate face to face seating arrangements as much as possible.
Communication
During times like these, it’s very important to have prior communication with your team and the attendees. This will help them to be mentally prepared for what they can expect to find and how they should conduct themselves. Communication also extends to the use of signs; your venue has to be well marked with handwashing areas, and have appropriate spots of standing to ensure social distancing is observed. This can help to create order in restrooms and buffet lines. Since large crowds have been prohibited, you should also take into account that your guest can’t arrive at the same time. To overcome this challenge, you can group your guests in specific arrival times that only allow a particular number of attendees. This will also give you ample time and room to perform initial thermal screening to guarantee the safety of the people attending the event.
Keeping Your Options Open
Even though COVID 19 has crippled a lot of industries, technology has played a huge role in keeping many operations running. As you’ll be planning your event, some of your guests won’t fully embrace the idea of gathering together; therefore, you should come up with alternative ways of ensuring they aren’t left behind. Video conferencing can actually help you solve this problem since the people who won’t feel safe to be physically present will still be able to follow the live proceedings.
Final Thoughts
COVID 19 would certainly go down in history as one of the most disruptive pandemics. As people readjust themselves by living their lives differently during the pandemic, it’s always important to ensure the guidelines stipulated by the various health organizations are adhered to. Be sure to implement the strategies mentioned above on your next event planning project.