With public health at risk and social distancing measures firmly in place and embedded in society, digital events have seen a huge rise in popularity. The live-streaming trend has spread like wildfire in the last few months with people from all industries using their own platforms to broadcast to a virtual audience. Having said that, regulations surrounding group gatherings are gently being relaxed and people are itching to enjoy something real again (spurred on by this uncharacteristically British heatwave!).
Whilst it is impossible to resume activity as normal, there are ways you can put on a successful live event in light of the current COVID-19 climate and here’s what we’ve been doing…
People Pockets
Savvy seating solutions are fantastic way to encourage social distancing even when guests arrive within groups. Creating ‘People Pockets’ allows you to easily influence guests to adhere to distancing regulations.
There are so many ways to create these ‘People Pockets’. Cabaret style seating would be the most commonly occurring solution and it works really well… but, if you really want to draw people to your event, you should try thinking outside the box. Here’s a few innovative ‘People Pocket’ seating solutions that we love!
Cleanliness is Key
During the pandemic, it is imperative that your event is as well-kept and hygienic as possible. Ensuring that the necessary sanitary actions are taken to reduce the spread of the virus is essential and there a number of ways you can ensure this is taken care of.
Sanitising Stations
Guests will need access to sanitising hand gel upon arrival, during the experience and once they leave. However, don’t just dot a few bottles around in the hope that guests will use them. You can now hire fully branded hand sanitising units that release the gel when they detect motion. They look amazing and are a much more enticing prospect for guests than a bottle of shop bought hand gel that everyone else has probably also touched.
Ensure that you really thinking about the consumer journey of your guests and strategically place the units in places that people are bound to come into close proximity with them. This will help ensure that everyone is able to do their part in maintain a clean, sterile environment.
Disposable/Washable Items
If your event is open to waves of staggered guests/groups throughout the day, or for a number of consecutive days, it’s important that you try to use as much disposable or washable items to ensure that anything that’s been touched by guests or staff won’t be passing on anything potentially dangerous to the next person who touches it.
Using disposable items may cause your event to look cheap, which is in no way desirable, but there are ways around that… using washable or disposable covers for high contact areas such as table tops for example enables you to ensure that you aren’t compromising the look and feel of your event.
Get Wacky!
It’s really easy to get caught up in rules and regulations, especially when there’s a global pandemic looming over our heads, but those who’ve interpreted the rules and put their own creative spin on them when organising their events have seen huge successes from thinking outside the box!
If you can think of a wacky way to adapt the manner in which you enforce the rules stated in government guidelines, you’ll be way on your way to putting on a far more enjoyable and unique event. Whilst the guidelines are rigid, as long as the rules are enforced, there’s no reason why you can’t stick to those rules and add a bit of extra flavour… Here’s some ideas to get your creative juices flowing!
Robot Service
Given that human-to-human contact and proximity is to be limited and discouraged, what better way to serve your guests than by robot!
We were recently appointed by the team over at Saatchi & Saatchi to come up with a PR stunt concept in line with the launch of Oral-B’s brand new iO toothbrush. Of course, we had to take into consideration the current situation and adapt our thinking. We came up with the idea of using a fleet of drones and robots to deliver the product to media and influencers across the country for them to try for themselves and review. You can read more about the job here.
Set Boundaries
Using screens, walls and other methods of almost herding your guests is not only fantastic for encouraging distancing, it can also help prevent the spread of the virus from person to person through the air by blocking any particles before they reach the person on the other side of the screen.
Whilst branded and decorated screens can look really slick, there’s so many ways you can influence your guests to respect the recommended boundaries whilst at your event… one of our favourite ideas so far has been these bumper tables. Check them out below!
Get Going!
Hopefully these concepts and ideas have sparked something in your own minds. If you’ve got an idea for a COVID friendly event and need help organising and delivering it, please do not hesitate to get in touch with us. Alternatively, if you still don’t have full idea but are keen to put something on, we’d be more than happy to help with the brainstorming process as well as execution. You can contact us here … we can’t wait to hear from you!
