Photo courtesy of Canva
In our last of a three post blog series, we’re talking about how to execute social events safely in the upcoming months.
Block parties, concerts, and team building events are all great ways to come together, but how can you execute these social events safely? Whether it’s virtual, in-person or hybrid, events are here to stay, so it’s a matter of deciding which format suits you and your audience (and your comfort levels) best.
We’ve put together ideas for how to execute social events for all three scenarios:
Virtual event ideas:
- Take advantage of third party virtual activity providers, like escape rooms, murder mysteries and horse races.
- Host real-time entertainment from a studio that people can stream into.
- Make the experience interactive, instead of making it a passive consumption experience for attendees. Bring in dueling pianos and ask attendees to submit requests. Improv groups take audience suggestions all the time.
- Incorporate a virtual photo booth
- Send participants background photo options to create a more cohesive look/experience when they’re online.
- Make sure to include a networking and/or social space during the event. Depending on what platform you use, some have built-in elements, while others let you embed social media. Check out our Virtual Event Resource for virtual platform ideas.
- Make the experience interactive, instead of making it a passive consumption experience for attendees. Bring in dueling pianos and ask attendees to submit requests. Improv groups take audience suggestions all the time.
Hybrid event ideas:
Take ideas from our virtual event suggestions and layer in some of these additional suggestions:
- Instead of streaming real-time entertainment from a studio, stream it from a ‘main’ venue that limited people can attend. Also consider renting smaller venues for viewing parties, like pubs, so that people still have that social experience.
- Creating a hybrid event brings in three ticketing options, which also makes the event more accessible for people financially and physically:
- Live
- Viewing party
- Online
In-person event ideas:
- Because social events typically bring in larger quantities of people, consider using a virtual risk-control platform where attendees can answer a COVID questionnaire, sign a COVID waiver, upload their vaccine status, etc. These platforms typically let you gather as much or as little information as you need or want, but are a good way to mitigate risk.
- For concerts or movies-in-the-park events, create ‘spaces’ that people can buy instead of seats. Set up spaces with 10×10 tents or picnic table areas that people can purchase with their friends or family. An extra level of precaution would be to cap the group limit to six people.
- Instead of having attendees wait in food/beverage lines, have staff come to attendees with food and beverage options for purchase or to take orders and bring it to the attendees. The ratio between service staff and attendees is really important in this case.
- If you’re hosting an indoor event, work extra closely with the venue management and follow their rules and restriction guidelines. Have suggested traffic flow markers in place for guests to follow.
- Make sure that ample washrooms, port-a-potties and hand washing/sanitizing stations are available.
- Create more specific ticket purchase options, rather than “general admission.” Offer blocks of time, spaces to rent, etc.
- Follow the Government of Alberta’s most updated guidelines when it comes to serving alcohol and beer gardens.
Get more ideas for planning events this fall from our Seasonal Event Guide – Summer/Fall Edition. You can also check out our blog posts about executing fundraising and appreciation and award events.
-Your Tycoon, Laryssa XO