The Event Marketing Association (EMA) introduced its new supplier and buyer checklists in the online 'Back to Live' panel discussion between event industry professionals.
EMA chair Richard Waddington was joined by an expert panel of industry professionals, including Adam Simpson director of marketing at etc.venues, Christopher McCarthy senior events manager at Rathbones, Anna Fox events manager at Liberty Global, Semrin Wadwa sales director M&E Hyatt Hotel, Mark Gill team manager FIRST at Goldman Sachs and Leigh Cowlishaw HBAA board member.
More than 100 attendees joined the call on the morning of 2 July to learn about the detailed checklists and hear what both corporate planners and venues are doing to transition back to live events.
“Over the past few weeks, a number of EMA members have been working to put together questions, thoughts and processes on what 'back to live' will look like,” Waddington said.
“This work is a long way from being completed and as of yet, we don’t have sight of government guidelines but we thought it was important to get the ball rolling and start the conversation, collaborating and thinking about what we can do, how we’re going to do it and what it’s going to look like.
“The strategic question is when and how are people and companies going to be ready to return to live events and what will be needed, what we need to talk about and what do we need to be offering to help this happen?”
The EMA checklists aim to provide much of this reassurance and guidance to event planners, their chosen venues and their delegates. The checklists focus on four components of event planning: pre-event, on-site, exhibitors and suppliers.
The pre-event checklist focuses on:
- Pre-event surveys
- Legal contracts and force majeure
- Joining instructions
- Post-event contact tracing
The onsite checklist focuses on:- Health and safety protocol
- Contracting
- Layout and space planning
- Partner vendors
The exhibitor checklist focuses on:- Registration process
- Onsite verification of health
- Movement around the building
- Exhibitor appointments
- Onsite collateral
The supplier checklist focuses on: - Budgeting
- Health & safety protocols
- Venue contracting
- Event place planning
- Catering
- Materials
The project leads on the guidelines were Christopher McCarthy, Anna Fox and Mark Gill. McCarthy, who headed up the review committee for the guidelines, explained the process of putting together the guidance.
“We started this off without knowing exactly what the rules and regulations are for events going ahead. We’ve spent a lot of time going through masses of information from hotels, venues, websites and internal documents from various EMA members who produced some absolutely great work.
“The final aim is to make it simpler for the corporate planner with a list of points that they should be aware of.”
The checklists have been produced to mitigate the lack of standardised event guidelines issued by the government and aim to boost delegate confidence. However, Leigh Cowlishaw, who also spoke on the panel, pointed out that no matter what safety procedures venues and planners put in place, it’s the delegate’s choice whether or not they feel confident enough to attend a live event.
“It’s the unknown for all of us right now, so the more we can do to pre-empt anxiety and the fact that we’ve thought about delegates' best interests will only naturally provide some assurance.
“But ultimately it does come down to delegate choice. The bottom line is the choice of the delegate’s whether they chose to attend.”
To watch the full panel discussion and to download the guidelines, visits EMA's website here.
A desire to travel led Holly Patrick to the business meetings and events world and she’s never looked back. Holly takes a particular interest in event sustainability and creating a diverse and inclusive industry. When she’s not working, she can be found rolling skating along Brighton seafront listening to an eclectic playlist, featuring the likes of Patti Smith, Sean Paul, and Arooj Aftab.
