Encore has announced the introduction of MeetSAFE, a set of guidelines to help the live event industry safely adapt to the changing landscape for meetings and events. MeetSAFE was developed by PSAV and Encore’s Family of Companies in response to evolving customer needs. As the world begins to reopen from COVID-19 shutdown, Encore will be working with clients and venue partners to implement the guidelines to safely and responsibly host events.
Designed to inspire trust and confidence, the set of tools is focused on redesigning events to successfully deliver on the strategic goals of the meeting while defining new guidelines to minimise risk and promote health. Doing so safely, will be the first priority of all planning activities as the ability to conduct in-person meetings will be dependent on making people feel safe in any setting.
“Our industry has more to consider when planning live events in the future. While there has been an explosion of virtual events due to today’s environment, we know there will be a time when both hybrid and fully live meetings will return,” said Ben Erwin, President of PSAV.
“People feel a strong desire for face-to-face interactions, so we wanted to be proactive and offer guidance on how they can ensure important live meetings and events are productive, but also safe at the same time.”
The MeetSAFE guidelines were developed with four key areas of focus in mind: event design, room layout / traffic flow, technology enhancements, and cleaning guidelines. With input from venue partners, event planners and leading industry associations, the new guidelines include a series of meeting formats, technology solutions, and other recommendations that outline paths around how the event industry could re-open during the early phases of recovery.
“The Events Industry Council applauds PSAV for its leadership through this effort to provide relevant guidance and tools to industry professionals,” commented Amy Calvert, CEO of the Events Industry Council.
“We are encouraged and inspired by the work we are seeing in all segments and regions to address today’s challenge and adapt for the future. The APEX COVID-19 Business Recovery Task Force is focused on curating and sharing accepted practices across the global events ecosystem and will include this tool in that work.”
The MeetSAFE guidelines were created in alignment with the hotel industry’s own safety and health guidelines and will be critical in preparing venues to safely host events as the economy reopens.
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