5 Reasons to Hire a Professional Event Planner During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Hosting a proper event was a difficult task, even without the pandemic, now, the list just keeps growing. Now, however, there’s much more at stake. Before, all that you had to worry about was the success of the event. Now, you need to eliminate the probability of your event spreading the epidemic and infecting other people. Not only would this be quite hard on you from the ethical perspective but it could also harm your brand, thus defeating the purpose of the event, to begin with. So, how do you do this? The answer is simple – you turn to professionals for help. Here’s why this is such an important idea.

Space management

The first thing worth keeping in mind is the fact that hiring a professional event planner during the COVID-19 pandemic isn’t just a matter of managing your resources – it’s a life and death issue. You need to ensure that there’s enough space for everyone. You also need to keep in mind that some people, while determined to attend the event, still plan to stick to social distancing in some form. When it comes to these people, it’s your job as the event organizer to provide them with the conditions to do so.

There are several ways to achieve this and the choice is yours. First, you can limit the attendance and consider reducing the seating capacity by creating more space between seats. This is really the only way for you to keep people six-feet apart. Also, you should look for a way to eliminate queues, which is why you need to consider starting a simpler check-in process. Most importantly, you should plan for outdoor activity. This way, it will be considerably easier to execute all of this. Naturally, with the help of a professional, all of these problems can be turned into advantages.

Prevention methods

Another thing you need to take into consideration is the prevention methods that you have available. Some people have suggested testing all attendees for COVID-19 before allowing them to enter the premises. First of all, this is not a reliable method of keeping everyone safe. In other words, it’s an additional cost and hassle that’s not going to provide adequate protection for the attendees. Dispensing hand sanitizer and masks at the entrance is also a great idea to welcome your guests, while, once again, raising awareness of the problem. Children younger than 2 and people with breathing troubles shouldn’t wear masks but, then again, having these people at social gatherings amidst the pandemic is not a great idea, to begin with.

Entertainment

The next issue that needs to be resolved as soon as possible is the issue of entertainment. You see, traditional forms of entertainment usually involved too much physical contact between the attendees. In this day and age, this is far from wise. Fortunately, a professional event planner can come up with some simpler, safer ideas and alternatives. Keep in mind that the situation is not as drastic across the entire country. So, you might want to consider hiring local help. For instance, for an NSW event, going for an event planning company from Sydney seems like a no-brainer. Hiring people from across the country (regardless of the area is COVID-free or if it’s a hotspot of the epidemic) is just outright reckless.

Live-streaming the event

The most important thing worth keeping in mind is the fact that while your physical attendance may have to shrink, you can still live-stream the event. This way, you can reach out to a much broader audience and create a scenario where neither you nor your brand has to suffer because of the impact of the pandemic on your branding efforts. Keep in mind, nonetheless, that you want the event to appear as epic as possible. People nowadays are A) nostalgic for pre-pandemic events and B) more likely to go for streaming events. So, you need someone to help you benefit from this set of circumstances.

Preventing the spread

Lastly, it’s the duty of the organizer to provide the attendees with the necessary tools to stop the spread of the virus. In other words, you need to provide everyone with access to clean running water, liquid soap and hand sanitizers. Keep in mind that while it does come down to the personal responsibility of the individual, it’s also quite important that you remind people (ideally in the invitation) to stay at home if they’re feeling unwell.

Finally, you need to make sure that the place is as clean as possible both when you enter and when you exit the place. A professional event planner can help you get in touch with the most reliable cleaners. Knowing how to apply adequate practices may make a massive difference when it comes to sanitary adequacy of the place. Amidst one of the largest epidemics that the modern world has seen, it’s impossible to stress out the importance of this enough.

In conclusion

At the end of the day, you need to understand that while keeping everyone safe, you still have some relevant brand messages to deliver. In other words, you need someone with enough skill to balance between these two aspects of COVID-19 event planning. Sure, it’s a difficult task but it’s in no way impossible and there are many reports of successful attempts. So, if you’re still determined to proceed with this, you’ll definitely need to hire a seasoned event planner and make an iron-clad battle plan.