As we begin to emerge on the other side of this pandemic, we must all be prepared for the 'new normal' of the events industry and how our events may take shape going forward.
With conferences and exhibitions (hopefully) restarting from 21st June, it's imperative that venues make use of this time to become as prepared as possible for when their hallways are once again filled with the buzz of delegates. Of course, that's a lot to do with making changes to ensure that your venue is safe for both employees and delegates, but it's also about giving people that all-important confidence that they can attend events at your venue without having to worry about their safety.
To help get you started, we've prepared a checklist of 5 essential things venues should do in order to set themselves up for success in the new events landscape, in order to keep themselves and their delegates safe and continue to generate revenue.
Table of Contents
1. Safer Venue Accreditation
2. Stock up on safer event supplies
3. Set up for hybrid events
4. 3D virtual tours
5. Nail your marketing
Safer Venue Accreditation
The first step to getting back to profitability is restoring the confidence in events at your venue. Will delegates feel confident to attend an event there? It's essential for venues to reassure clients and delegates that your venue is safe and secure, and that's largely down to effectively communicating the steps that have been taken to allow it to adhere to government guidelines.
Hire Space collaborated with leading corporate bookers, top venues and public health organisations to develop a Safer Venue Accreditation. Taking steps to become certified as a Safer Venue will not only ensure that your staff, clients and delegates are kept safe but it will also communicate the fact that your venue has gone above and beyond the government guidelines, increasing confidence and putting your venue top of the list for event organisers planning a 'safer event'.
Download our White Paper for more details on how you can manage the risk of COVID-19 in organised meetings and events, and read our case study on the Hire Space Away Day at RSA House last summer to see a safer event in action.
Book a consultation with us for more details or to get started on your accreditation.
Stock up on safer event supplies
Once you've been accredited as a safer venue, it's important to adhere to all the measures laid out in the accreditation, and to make sure your venue is fully equipped to run safer events. PPE, such as masks, thermometers and face guards, will be crucial for events going forward, at least for the near future, so now is the time to stock up. However, if you're new to PPE, it can be hard to know where to start – read our guide to PPE to find out all you need to know.
You can buy everything you need to run a safer event and protect your staff and delegates at the Safer Events Shop. You can even get £5 off your first order using the link below. 5% of all proceeds go to NHS Charities Together.
Visit the Safer Events Shop here (Save £5 off your first order).
Set up for hybrid events
Having seen the benefits of virtual events first-hand over the past few months, many organisers are now planning to host hybrid events - a mix of virtual and in-person elements. As lockdown eases and venues open up again, it's likely that these events will take precedence. Check out our guide to hybrid events to find out more.
As mentioned in this session from our virtual event last summer, a key desire for organisers planning a hybrid event is that they are able replicate the same experience for in-person and online attendees, so online delegates don't feel like they're 'missing out'. So what does this mean for your venue?
Well, it's crucial for venues to implement high quality AV to facilitate these requirements. We recommend ensuring all event spaces have an accessible dedicated, hard-wired ethernet connection, 10Mbp+ upload speed, and open ports. Secondly, make sure your venue has sufficient power sources in order to accommodate the technology for the live stream. Thirdly, it's likely that organisers will use a hybrid event platform such as Arena in order to integrate their virtual attendees into the event. It's crucial as a venue you have all of these technical considerations taken care of to avoid a tech failure on the day - internet is the number one priority here!
It's also important to make sure there is enough set-up space for technicians, as well as physically preparing the spaces to accommodate social distancing and safety measures for in-person attendees in accordance with our Safer Venues Accreditation.
Enquire with our Hybrid Event Experts to see how you can get your venue hybrid-ready.
3D virtual tours
As event organisers are needing to adapt to working virtually and planning events from home, so must venues. From lower capacities and social distancing to temperature screening and contact tracing, events are going to look very different when they return, so it's useful for organisers and venues to establish whether a space is going to work for an event before the planning begins. Venues can do this by providing 3D virtual tours of their spaces to give organisers a feel for the venue. Read more about the benefits of 3D tours here.
If you're not sure how to go about creating a 3D virtual tour, we can do it for you with our Matterport 3D camera.
Email jake.b@hirespace.com to find out more.
Nail your marketing
So, you've been accredited, stocked up on PPE, got your 3D virtual tour at the ready and are set up for hybrid events. What next? Marketing, of course! There's no point doing all the above steps if you don't then shout about it from the rooftops and get those enquiries rolling in.
Get social media-savvy, write blogs, send out newsletter updates and reach out to your clients to let them know you're ready for business and have made your venue the perfect location for their post-lockdown events.
For a little more help, read our top tips on venue marketing in a crisis.
We hope we've provided you with some helpful advice on how you can prepare your venue for events as we wait for June to arrive. Next, read our guide for venues on how to navigate the events industry during a crisis. If you're interested in our Safer Venues Accreditation, book your free consultation below.
Author
Izzie Lachecki
Izzie brings a deep understanding of the events world to Hire Space, and keeps busy by writing lots of Hire Space and EventLAB content and managing the Hire Space social media presence.
