COVID Event Protocols: How Planners are Keeping In-Person Meetings and Events Safe
As live events resume, the health and safety of our clients, attendees, vendors, and staff remain top priorities for Kennedy Events. With so much uncertainty and an ever-changing landscape regarding safe events, our team has been directing focus towards future-proofing events for safer gatherings. Implementation of COVID best practices and safety measures in every part of the planning process continues to be a vital measure to ensuring client and attendee safety. Navigating the constant updates and shifting guidelines of COVID safety protocols is a full-time job. We understand how overwhelming it can feel trying to make sense of it all especially as the responsibility of each participant's protection rests on your shoulders.
Here are just a few of the important issues that you might need to address if you’re considering an in-person event:
Venue — location, size, type, crowd density, indoor/outdoor, airflow
Attendees — age, health status, travel to the event
Event activities — level of interaction among participants, meals
Duration — length of the event
Virtual element — to accommodate attendees who would prefer not to gather in-person
CDC guidelines — most accurate information updated weekly
Establish Event Guidelines
Establish your guidelines according to what CDC and local government provide. In addition to these protocols, we recommend working in tandem with the venue as they will likely have additional standards in place such as vaccination status of attendees or if/when guests will need to complete a negative COVID test prior to the event. This could be 48 hours prior, 24 hours prior, or even onsite testing the day of the event.
Communicate with Attendees
Communicate in advance of your event about any modifications to manage expectations and avoid confusion; for example:
Face coverings
Advance or in-person health screenings
Maximum event capacity/RSVP deadlines
Event ticketing
Physical distancing guidelines
Staggered arrival/departure times
Entrance and exit plans
Advise attendees to get to the event early. Provide guests with a clearly controlled and communicated pathway to manage registration, venue entry, on-site rapid testing, and a separate exit passage. Leverage tech and touchless services to alleviate some of the COVID compliance stress including:
Contactless check-in
Kiosks to track how many people are in a room and to maintain occupancy level
Contact-free temperature screening
Event Safety Protocols
As you think about returning to live events, use these six recommendations as a starting point.
Keep up with current best practices/guidelines. The most accurate information can be found on the CDC website and is updated weekly.
Have a network of safety compliance officers. A reliable COVID safety compliance officer will have undergone a certification program. These range from a 6-month training program to a four-hour class on COVID safety that includes modules on prevention and control.
Be aware that all safety measures will affect your budget. The logistics of deciphering which safety measures to include and where to source rapid tests and other COVID safety equipment in bulk can be a nightmare. Consider hiring a COVID compliance officer or capable event production company to guide you through the process.
Create a safety plan that includes employee and vendor health screening and training, modifications to the event space, event practices, food services, and recommendations for enhanced cleaning protocols, vaccination requirements, and testing that are specific to the location of the event. Prepare a plan for implementing safety protocols with both attendees and vendors.
Be in contact with all of your vendors for the event. From the photo booth and catering crew to the setup team, you’ll want to have requirements in place for vendors and hired staff.
Keep in mind that the pandemic has caused a shortage of labor. Prepare specific requirements for staff vaccination, what form of COVID testing will be acceptable, and who will pay for the cost of the test (the vendor or the client).
Consider the attendee perspective when planning the line management, overall setup, and flow of the event, so that focus is still on event and objectives and not the COVID aspect.
Remember that the Delta variant came at the same time people were willing to go back to live events. Unfortunately, it was quickly discovered that being vaccinated did not guarantee a reduced risk of transmission. In order to return safely to in-person events, COVID safety and compliance measures should be at the forefront of your planning effort. It’s highly advisable to implement COVID tests on top of proof of vaccination as COVID can still be spread through vaccinated individuals.
Is it Time to Outsource Your Event’s COVID Compliance Management?
Did you know that Kennedy Events has a dedicated COVID Compliance Officer to manage all safety protocols for live events? With a million and one things to consider when planning an in-person event in the post-pandemic world from sourcing safe venues to controlling event capacity and maintaining physical distancing requirements, creating a safe and COVID compliant event can turn into one tangled logistics nightmare. If you’re looking to outsource this expertise, schedule a free consultation with us today.
MARIANNE JACKSON
Marianne Jackson is a senior producer and the creative director at Kennedy Events. She specializes in making our client’s biggest design and decor dreams tangible while also ensuring that the event day menu is worthy of a Zagat mention. (Seriously, her taste and culinary connections are that good). Her fervor for adventure, cuisine, and aesthetics is visibly apparent in every event—whether in-person or virtual—she produces.
About Kennedy Events
Kennedy Events began with one goal in mind—to produce high-level corporate events with just as much strategy as style. Maggie founded the company in 2000, found her match in Paige, and in 2011 the two became official partners. Since then, these two resourceful and brilliant creatives have pooled their strengths to build one one of the most the most sought after corporate event companies in San Francisco, New York, and Los Angeles.
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