I don’t know about you, but the 1st lockdown helped us focus on 3 words that have become more relevant than ever: TOGETHERNESS, TEAM, UNITED.

A second wave has started now, but we don’t fear it anymore, we’ve learned from the past so that we can keep on doing what we love most: creating solutions that solve our clients’ complex marketing problems.

Although we don’t shake hands anymore and hugs are only icons on social media, we believe in building rapport and continuously practice staying connected with each other.

Nowadays, zooming & hangout-ing have become standard verbs that we use in our daily speech.

Virtual events, virtual meetings or webinars have started becoming more and more effective. They help you stay connected with your audience around the world. They may not offer all the benefits of face-to-face events but they are clearly more efficient than radio silence.

In these times „Not sharing is caring”.

If, however, you cannot avoid face2face meetings, here are some tips to keep in mind when organising an event during a pandemic:

• A safe event means safe for attendants and for all the teams involved in making it happen. Put safety first – not only on the day of the event, but also before the event.
• Follow the rules for social distancing from the beginning till the end and respect the measures imposed by local authorities.
• Always be ready do more than appears necessary in order to be safe. Make sure everyone understands the safety measures and knows how to use the protective materials. Create a routine guide for your team – one that can become your “standard operating procedure”.
• Make sure that your guest list is complete. Check it closely and be flexible about the changes that may appear. At global events, you are likely to meet attendants from countries that have imposed different rules and restrictions during the pandemic. Stay informed about them.
• Sharing food, drinks or instruments (writing, eating, etc) should be avoided.
• The first rule when organizing an event is to start with a Plan A and Plan B – always be prepared with 2 plans. This pandemic has a Plan C (Cancel) should also be taken into account. If at any moment something unforeseen happens and “safety first” is no longer possible, be ready to cancel the event.
• Try not to look at it as a failure. It was just the time for a Plan C.

 Top 5 benefits of live / face2face events:

1) Emotions – the vibe of real emotions is higher when we meet face2face.

2) Reactions – are more vivid, more natural, smiles are brighter at live events.

3) Sensory information –  as human beings, we rely on multiple senses to gather information. Our mind translates what we smell and see, it’s not just about what we hear.

4) Small events may have a higher impact when the attendants are carefully selected. A limited number of participants will help your team spend more time and offer more attention to each guest.

5) Live streaming a face2face event is now a must, not an option, and it’s become easier than ever to make it happen.

Top 3 benefits of streaming a live event:

1) Higher impact – you can reach thousands of people, globally, with a small effort (compared to bringing them all physically together at your event)

2) Lower budget – no need to argue about that.

3) Better control of numbers – control of the budget, the timing, your list of attendants and results.

In case you never thought that a Christmas Party with your global team coul not just be possible globally, but also truly interactive and memorable – let’s talk.

We have plenty of ideas waiting to be brought to life.

Don’t kill your company’s Christmas Party!

As a global marketing solutions integrator with over 20 years experience, we have seen both sides: offline and online events’ effectiveness.

Our conclusion for 2021: Mix them up! Use both as much as possible! Stay active! Don’t stop – „eventing”!