It's time to start preparing for when live events do come back

Each day I receive emails from destinations around the world with catchy phrases like "We are ready to welcome you back" or "Open for Business". The truth of the matter is Canadian businesses are NOT comfortable with the idea of large-scale live meetings or even smaller meetings yet nor do we have the green light to operate or travel outside of the country. But that does not mean that we should not start preparing for when face to face gatherings do begin as they inevitably will. So, let’s look at some of the new realities that will be faced on a high level and as more information emerges, we will delve into more details in future posts.

Budgets: expect budget to increase by about 40 percent for a conference. This is to offset the new social distancing rules that will make the need for greater space mandatory. Currently 2 people on a 72" round is the norm in Ontario as opposed to the old standard of 10-12. While it is possible that room rental fees per square foot may not change, the need for more space per event will drive costs up and then demand for space could see prices begin to rise.

Waste: events unfortunately tend to have too much waste and garbage, though green initiatives were certainly gaining traction. With Covid-19 we will begin to see waste increase once again as we move towards more pre-packaged items, and the use of more disposable items as well.

Food and beverage: Goodbye buffets! Though they provide choice, I cannot say that I will be sorry to see them go for both sanitary and waste reasons. Expect to see more stations with food servers ($$), plated meals and pre-packaged items.

There are so many areas of events that will need to be re-designed such as registration, receptions, team building and many others. It will never return to how it used to be, there will be new norms and I look forward to being innovative, creative and creating new Euphoric Experiences when events re-emerge.