When We Meet Again
Exploring the future of events
By Sarah Kittle
The last live event the Chaldean American Chamber of Commerce hosted was the Industry Outlook panel on The State of the News. The date was February 11. Topics covered included digital platforms, user-generated content, social media interaction and public distrust of news sources embodied in the “fake news” era. A world-wide pandemic wasn’t even a blip on anyone’s radar.
One month later, all events everywhere were canceled, indefinitely. Everyone had new words in their vocabulary: coronavirus, COVID, PPE, social distancing. Businesses were closed and Wall Street shut down, although some people were still calling it “fake news.”
The next scheduled Chamber event was a quarterly networking meeting, or QNM. It was attended on Zoom by some of the Chamber’s best who were all missing the handshakes, top-notch appetizers and free-flowing cocktails. Of course, this was a bring-your-own affair and it just couldn’t match the ambience and comradery of the usual ‘Fun after 5’ events. It was still nice to see people’s faces.
Chamber staff found themselves rapidly learning new skills. With like-minded organizations, they planned tele-town halls and virtual events. Chambers of Commerce became media outlets for their members, sifting through the astonishing amount of resources to find the most relevant and then finding ways to broadcast that information to the community.
Across the country and the world, event professionals who had been attending webinars for years now found themselves hosting webinars of their own. The debate still rages between GoToWebinar and Zoom – which is better? Suddenly, digital technology took center stage as a large percentage of the population was grounded to their homes.
One event professional stated in a recent webinar that he didn’t see large in-person events occurring for at least two years. Even when it’s allowed by law, he feels people won’t feel comfortable gathering. It’s generally conceded that going forward, events will be forever changed. Technology is no longer a threat to in-person events, but rather a complement. Future events will be a hybrid of in-person and virtual, and that’s good news for the industry.
The events industry was hit particularly hard by the pandemic and ensuing quarantine. Gatherings were forbidden and everyone was scrambling to reschedule; first for next month, then next fall, then next year. It’s more than two months later and at this time we still don’t know when we will be able to meet in person for groups of more than ten.
Venues such as Shenandoah Country Club are just waiting on an order from the Governor that allows them to open for business. Golf, being outdoors, is already permitted and league play has begun. Carts are sanitized after each use and social distancing is encouraged, but it all comes down to trusting patrons to be smart and act responsibly.
“As with staff, we are taking temperatures and have a short questionnaire for each of our guests,” says club president Raad Kathawa. “We are following all CDC and government guidelines and regulations.”
Carry out food is available for online ordering and curbside pickup. They’ve been seeing some steady business, but the real revenue source for Shenandoah is events: banquets, dinners and weddings. “April, May and June weddings have been postponed until the fall, and some until next year,” says Kathawa. “We are ready to open, slowly and with safeguards, as soon as we are able.”
One upside to the mandatory use of technology is that everyone is getting used to using it. Events have had a virtual component for years and we’ve all seen the rapid growth of social media marketing and interaction at events, but many people were hesitant to trust tech to really meet their needs. Event organizers are finding that their audience is much wider now, and some annual events that have moved to the virtual world are thriving in their new environment with the ability to reach people in areas that were previously geographically unreachable.
Dalia Atisha, The Event Planner, finds her business has been affected tremendously by COVID-19. Traditionally, the months of April through October are her busy season; she reports that many clients have been postponing or even outright cancelling. “Although we may not be ‘working’ or coordinating events,” says Atisha, “we are working a lot more with our clients to help be a calming presence, provide insight, options and connecting with other creative team members to help seamlessly make changes to current event dates.”
Moving to digital entirely, says Atisha, “hasn’t been something clients are keen on.” In some instances, weddings have been conducted virtually for friends and family to participate, with the reception postponed until a later date. “Parties are a personal and interactive experience,” she explains, so arranging “drive-by” parties, with banners and music (sometimes live) is popular right now.
Recently, Atisha planned a socially-distant scavenger hunt for a combined birthday/graduation celebration. She was pleased with the result and hopes the graduate was, too. “It was a carefully planned out day that ended very successfully, quarantine style.”
As for the future, Atisha predicts some changes are guaranteed. Perhaps people will be reluctant to hold hands during a dance at a wedding. The number of wedding guests are likely to decrease, wait staff will wear mandatory masks and self-serve food stations will die a natural death. Many events previously held indoors will be relocated outside, where people seem to feel more comfortable. Certainly seating will evolve. “Guests will not want to sit snugly at receptions and tables won’t be able to be so close to each other,” she says.
On the other side of the equation, some events are going forward as planned with little to no change. The Woodward Dream Cruise, majorly underwritten by Ford Motor Company, is still happening on August 15th with no mention of coronavirus in their marketing material. On their website, the “public safety” section is directed toward police patrols and consumption of alcohol.
Lawrence Yaldo of Top That Table says his company has been drastically affected by COVID-19; however, he remains optimistic about the future of events. “We are a tight-knit community,” says Yaldo. “We will continue to host very social, engaging events.”