The APEX COVID-19 Business Recovery Task Force, an arm of the Events Industry Council, yesterday issued its “Meeting and Event Design Accepted Practices Guide," which can be downloaded for free.
To rebuild trust that in-person meetings and events can happen safely, the guide provides these customizable tools:
- A meeting and event decision grid
- Guidelines and a code of conduct for pre-event, post-event and onsite
- Meeting and event success metrics (pre- and post-vaccine)
- Attendee communication considerations
- A resource guide
“We must, as individuals and organizations, take the responsibility to own the assessment and mitigation of risk, taking into account guidance from global, national, regional and local public health officials,” said Amy Calvert, CEO of the Washington-based EIC. “If we do so consistently, and communicate these steps effectively, we will make considerable strides toward reestablishing trust. Trust with organizational decision-makers, event organizers, participants and all stakeholder groups is an essential element in the process of recovery and ensuring our future relevance.”
EIC will host a webinar tomorrow at 11 a.m. EDT/8 a.m. PDT to discuss the “Meeting and Event Design Accepted Practices Guide.” Additional guides, including one from the Hotel/Accommodations Health & Safety team, will be released in coming weeks.
“In-person meetings, events, exhibitions, and trade shows came to a screeching halt in March,” said Meeting and Event Design work group member Cathy Schlosberg, senior vice president marketing, PSAV. “While we have seen some very encouraging examples of events beginning to take place across the globe, we know that we need to continue to work to advocate our ability to create safe environments. Our colleagues want to understand and implement accepted practices that bring in-person meetings, events, exhibitions, and trade shows back to life. The guide EIC released today will help do that.”
The code of conduct is available for download here.
The APEX COVID-19 Business Recovery Task Force is led by co-chairs Michael Dominguez, president and CEO, Associated Luxury Hotels International, and Kristin Horstman, senior director, strategic events, Salesforce.
