Re-Imagine Your Event for Success

What it looked like on the inside for participants during the 2020 Halloween event.

By Hayden Kramer

Imagine your trip to Disney World; typically, you envision the castle, the fireworks, characters, a magical experience and maybe a lighter wallet. These are the broad stroke takeaways from a once in a lifetime trip. What you may have missed were all of the small items that added up to make the grander picture: you missed the signs that have all been intentionally placed and all keeping with brand standards; the cleanliness of the park; seeing garbage cans wherever you looked to ensure that the park is clean; smiling faces of every single employee on the grounds from the shuttle driver to the fry cook. Disney did not approach anything haphazardly, but everything was purpose driven, intentional and imagined for the guest experience. The large successful picture is made up of micro intentional decisions.

As event planners, we often get drawn to the largest items in the event: the main stage; the final firework show; the lineup of the parade or signing the largest dollar sponsor ever seen in the history of the festival. While those are important, with Covid, it is necessary to RE-IMAGINE all aspects of your event. Ideally, this is something that event producers have been doing in the “down time” of cancellations. It may sound simplistic, but now is the time to revisit your mission, vision and your “why” of your events. When making difficult decisions, these should be the bedrock of those decisions. These small decisions on how to handle the necessary aspects of your event in the Covid times will either lead you to success or your demise.

Halloween Spooktacular Past – a snapshot of what a previous year looked like.

RE-IMAGINE will take several forms including: timing; size & scope; safety; communication; revenue and thinking. This is not an exhaustive list, but rather a list to review and spark creativity.

When it comes to timing, our festival and event grounds used to be open to anyone and everyone from the start to the end of the event. Now, the traditional timeframes may need to be extended and run longer hours of operation. Timed ticketing will become a norm, even for free events.

In the past, the name of the game when it came to size, scope and scale was to gather as many people into one space as possible; the size and scope will now need to change. Creating a flow for the event may now consist of one entry point for the event and transitioning patrons to create a one-way traffic pattern. The use of multiple entertainment stages, proper placing of food vendors and bathrooms will allow patrons to take advantage of the event while not feeling as though they missed something. Expanding the footprint of the event or the use of multiple event spaces within a geographic region allows for greater social distancing.

Events will still need to operate and have essential items like vendors, food trucks and experiences. These interactions will need to be revamped and looked to become low-touch interactions. Cashless payments for vendors and contactless interaction are a must. VIP booths could be turned into pods and may see boxed food items rather than a buffet style. Finally, the interaction between sponsors and patrons will need to be explored; a great alternative would be to explore kits that can be prepackaged and used at home.

Safety should be at the forefront of the decision-making process. Ensuring that you are an expert on your local restrictions and follow newly put in place protocols will be paramount. Increased training and education for staff, volunteers, entertainers and vendors will ensure your event can happen and will be as safe as it can be. Sanitation stations, cleaning crews, mask distribution and social distancing will be as important as security personnel and medical staff. As a reminder, the factors that we have faced in the past that make the risk management hairs stand up on the back of our necks still exist! While much of our attention and bandwidth is being spent on the immediate challenge in front of us, it is important not to lose sight of what we already know.

Communication at events will need to be RE-IMAGINED and be transitioned into high touch/reach communication. Social media is a great place to begin but should not be the only avenue. Pre-recorded audio announcements at entrances or on shuttles, push notifications via an app or text messages and pre-messaging via email and video. It is important to remember how you receive information - written lengthy emails are hardly read - the use of videos, easy to read signs and pictures will be a benefit. As event producers, we need to be prepared for all things. Part of your communication strategy needs to include prepared statements on last minute potential cancellation and a statement if your event triggered community spread.

Revenue cannot be overlooked, while we all enjoy bringing smiles to patrons faces, revenue allows us to continue this for years to come. Sponsorships, pre-purchased swag and tickets will add to the bottom line. Along with revenue comes cost; this will remain a driving factor in decision making. There may be new line items like temporary fencing, bathroom attendants or symptom checkers that did not exist previously but are now a large part of the budget.

What this year’s Halloween looked like.

Use these newly RE-IMAGIND techniques to help you solve the problems they create! For example, revenue may be perceived to be down because not as many people may attend your event; but, use the extended hours to host food trucks for breakfast, quite hours for people with differing abilities or evening hours for date nights. Timed ticketing will force people to register online; this is a treasure trove of information that can be used in multiple ways! Patrons will now be forced to provide their zip code, where they found out about the event from and their contact information; this information can be used for future target marking campaigns and their contact information will directly benefit during the communication phases of before the event, during the event and after the event follow up. The use of multiple event venues for one event provides the opportunity to either uniquely theme each venue or sell sponsorship packages in a different way. As part of sponsor engagement, kits that are handed out at the event can prompt for social media engagement; this will further their reach. Hygiene kits that may include a branded mask and sanitizer is a great thing for a sponsor to be associated with.

As we move into a new year, these events will look different for everyone. During the planning and before the event, walk through your website, social media and marketing. Take the same approach to your event grounds. With things being so new, do not take for granted that everything is clear; it may be clear to you and others helping to produce the event, but look at it through the lens of someone who is brand new to your event.

The Town of Indian Trail has implanted several of these aspects. One great example was back in October. The Town typically hosts a Halloween Spooktacular event; the event is a mix of economic development with over 75 businesses participating in a trunk-or-treat, a fundraiser for a local charity through food service, free pumpkins, crafts, costume contest, story time and dance party. This event typically draws about 5,000 participants- in a town with about 35,000 residents, this is a great turnout! The line to enter the trunk-or-treat portion of the event can take two hours to enter in a single file line; clearly, this is a success but would have garnered nothing but negative press if it was held in its traditional fashion. Instead, staff sat down to RE-IMAGINE what the event could look like. The event was transitioned to Hallowingo. The events main feature was drive-in bingo. Cars came on site, picked up their bingo supplies, swag bag and a free pumpkin; they were parked by staff and instructed to tune to a specific radio station. With the use of an FM transmitter, Town staff were able to communicate with cars via their radio and call games of bingo; when a car won, they would honk their horn and staff would deliver a prize. The event still had a heavy business presence; coupons and special offers were collected and then assembled for every participant by Town staff. Timing for the event was changed from a Friday night three-hour event to a Saturday event that was run in sessions; each session was ninety minutes, and six sessions were hosted. Instead of the traditional event grounds, the parking lot was used. Low-touch interactions were in place; staff handed over one condensed bag to only the driver of the vehicle. The entire interaction lasted less than fifteen seconds and was made as safe as possible with gloves, masks, and face shields. With pre-registration, we were able to communicate with all participants prior to the event with an email and pre-recorded video. During the event, although we were unable to hear participants, the Town was able to have their undivided attention. After the event, we surveyed all participants to learn about their experience and how to improve; we garnered a lot of insight. Ultimately, all patrons appreciated the RE-IMAINGED approach that we took, the way that everything was communicated and the safety protocol that was put in place. One conscious decision that we made was to alter the name; we did this so that people attending the event understood they would be experiencing something different than in years past.

Executing and attending events is not a right, it is a privilege. The way in which the Town executed Hallowingo allowed for participants to understand what we could produce and the safety protocols that we put in place. For events and programs that we hosted after that, we used similar strategies; word-of-mouth spread, and we gained loyal advocates for our department. When the Town was looking to execute the Hallowingo event or subsequent activities, we did evaluate our mission and vision. The Town Park and Recreation Department has a mission to “be a trendsetting agency that transforms lives” and a mission that our department is “dedicated to enriching Indian Trail’s community through memorable experiences”. The Hallowingo event truly was a trendsetting event and the positive response that we received provided a much-needed lift during Covid; the event fulfilled the mission and provided a memorable experience for all that attended! Although the event looked different, it was a success for the Town and the 1,500 participants!

As event producers, we often are not afforded the opportunity to stop, evaluate and make changes. As someone who works in a municipal Parks and Recreation, we often do not even pay attention to what month it is - we just know we go from Valentines hearts to Easter Eggs, to fireworks, to music, to pumpkins and end the year with Christmas trees. 2020 was a challenging year and 2021 is still unclear; take the time now and use it wisely so that after the pandemic you come out ahead and your patrons can take advantage of your hard work! Think outside the box and explore all avenues. Things that may have been dismissed before may become the saving grace of your event. The best thing about event production is, no matter how small or large your event is - you can learn something from events smaller and larger than yours! Be creative during this time, reach out to other event producers and remember to RE-IMAGINE the way you look at everything!

Hayden Kramer is a graduate of North Carolina State University and is the current Director of Parks and Recreation for the Town of Indian Trail, North Carolina. Indian Trail is a fast growing town minutes away from Charlotte. His department produces 20 plus events during the year that cater to the community. He and his team focus on being a trendsetting agency that transforms lives and creates memorable experiences for all. Finally, Hayden, his wife, daughter and two dogs love to get out and check out other events in the area and when they travel. The IFEA Covid-19 Re-Imagine Task Force was are a collaborative effort by the Committee Chairs and the work of their committee team members including:

• Committee Co-Chair: Ted Baroody, CFEE, Norfolk Festevents

• Committee Co-Chair: Annie Frisoli, CFEE, Creating

Community, LLC • Floyd Benson, Memphis in May

• Eric Corning, Seafair

• Ashley Depew, National Cherry Blossom Festival

• Randy Dewitz, Fanfare Attractions

• Barry Feldner, Grapevine Convention & Visitors Bureau

• Dan Goode, SunFest

• Noel Gramlich, Downtown Norfolk Council

• Audrey Haake, San Antonio Conservation Society

• Baylor Hall, Birthplace of Country Music

• Charlene Ham, City of Henderson

• Cara Harting, City of Frisco

• Jim Holt, Memphis in May International Festival

• Paul Jamieson, SunFest

• Kristin Knop, Lakeshore Art Festival

• Hayden Kramer, Town of Indian Trail Parks & Recreation

• Dianna Lawrence, City of Richardson

• Sam Lemheney, Pennsylvania Horticultural Society

• Gloria Martinez, Weatherford Chamber of Commerce

• Mairin Petrone, Pittsburgh Irish Festival

• Carol Popejoy Davis, CFEE, Outdoor Adventures by Boojum

• Jamie Prins, Scottsdale Arts

• Ira Rosen, Temple University School of Sport, Tourism & Hospitality

• Mary Margaret Satterfield, Conway Area Chamber of Commerce

• Nancy Stewart, Festival Management Group

• Meghan Tadlock, North Carolina Azalea Festival

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