The New Pivot. In-Person Events

We knew the day would finally come. New York has opened back up, people are starting to get together again, and the planning for the in-person and hybrid events have begun. The new pivot now, is for everyone to hold in-person events safely and accommodate their new online audiences.

Safe In-Person Events

The biggest thing that we’ve heard from clients, partners, and venues is that the event must feel safe. I’ve personally been at events that feel completely safe and everyone is excited to be there, and I’ve also attended one that did not feel like anyone had considered people’s safety at all. It was really uncomfortable. We spoke to General Manager Kevin Johnson this week on AVX Live! about how his venue was handling In-Person and Hybrid events, some really interesting information.

For more information, check the CDC guidelines for organizing large events and gatherings. They actually have pages for both unvaccinated and vaccinated audiences.

Planning Ahead

The event industry is planning for a big fall and 2022 spring. We’ve seen a tremendous uptick in activity for Fall in-person and hybrid already. Our hospitality venues and event partners are excited, but are very short staffed due to having made major cuts to survive 2020 and the 1st quarter of 2021. What does that mean to you? Plan ahead and book your events NOW. Everyone will have a limited capacity in the next 6 months, and this is clearly a supply and demand business. It is especially complicated to plan a hybrid event, as it is really two events at once. You need to know what you want to accomplish and have time to determine the additional logistics involved. Our advice – plan and book now for October, November, December, and January.

Spring Congratulations

Congratulations to our many friends that were honored at this year’s Business Council of Westchester’ Hall of Fame Awards! Groups like Events to RememberProgressive Computing and many more – well done!

And a very special congratulations to Corporate AV’s own Creative Director, Ryan Finch, as he was just named a 2021 914Inc Wunderkind, and was fortunate enough to grace the cover of this year’s edition. Thank you to the team at Westchester Magazine and 914Inc. and congratulations to Ryan for his fantastic accomplishment!

Let’s create events that feel safe, and reach people both in the room and online!

 

As we continue to deliver Success You Hear and Results You See, we’ll be sharing insights and best practices for excelling in the virtual setting.