Event Marketer Spring 2022 - 16

STRATEGY
RULES OF ENGAGEMENT
As major festivals drop pandemic protocols, the industry faces a turning point
mitigation. Therefore, if one area is lax,
he says, it must be balanced by heightened
precautions in other areas.
Spero is concerned that most health
safety measures will eventually disappear
and event planners will return to pre-pandemic
operations.
COACHELLA AND STAGECOACH music
festivals made a statement in February by
dropping their Covid-19 vaccination and
testing requirements for 2022. The change
came after both events were cancelled the
past two years due to the pandemic, and
as state and local governments across the
country began rolling back pandemic-era
mandates like masking.
Stagecoach announced on Feb. 15 that
there will be " no vaccination, testing or
masking requirements at Stagecoach 2022,
in accordance with local guidelines. " The
festival takes place April 29 through May
1. Coachella shared a similar message, also
adding that the event, April 15-24, will be
presented " in accordance with applicable
public health conditions as of the date
of the event, and they may change at any
time. " Both properties are owned by Goldenvoice.
Festivals
were among some of the first
large-scale events to return to in-person,
and while Coachella and Stagecoach are
now among the first to loosen their Covid19
protocols, health experts say much of
the industry is still taking a conservative
approach, especially within the b-to-b
event space.
Dr. Jonathan Spero, ceo of InHouse
16 EVENT MARKETER SPRING 2022
Physicians, which offers health security
services for corporate meetings and events,
says that his team is now handling approximately
50 domestic or international
gatherings per month. He says Fortune
500 companies are spending as much as
$865,000 for Covid-19 vaccine verification
and testing (including for pre-departure,
arrival, on-site and departure) measures.
" What I am seeing now is a very significant
commitment to health security, "
says Spero. " Planners are currently willing
to spend that money when there was no
budget for it in the past. Getting people on
flights and in one place creates an increased
risk of Covid infection and transmission
that event hosts are attempting to mitigate.
Since the emergence of Omicron, so many
more people are getting infected, and it has
really created an argument for increased
health security. "
Though meetings and events pose a
risk of infection, the majority of attendees
traveling to shows like CES that Spero
works with now feel comfortable taking the
risk to attend a meeting as long as health
security measures are in place. From vaccine
verification to testing at various points
in the event experience, health security
measures create a cumulative level of risk
" That would be a mistake for the events
industry. I'd like to see the most prominent
event associations and third parties collaborate
about what health security measures
need to be in place long term to protect
our industry, " he says. " We've had two
pandemics in 11 years, and we likely will
have another one. It's a way of life, and if
the industry stays in reactive mode, they
will remain vulnerable to future threats. It
doesn't have to be that way. The meetings
and events industry has a real opportunity
to have a seat at the table with the c-suite,
engaging in more strategic discussions
with human resources, risk management
and other departments. As of yet, they have
not taken advantage of that opportunity. "
Dr. Matt Friedman, medical director
of CrowdRx, which also offers on-site
medical services for events, says that his
schedule for 2022 is slightly busier than
before the pandemic. He says that at this
stage of the pandemic, risk needs to be
assessed on an individual level, not based
on the general public. Most events are
still requiring vaccinations, he adds, and a
small minority are now requiring boosters.
However, looking forward, depending on
the individual risk assessment of an event's
specific clientele, he anticipates more vaccine
requirements to be dropped.
" We are still recommending that it's
better for everyone to require vaccinations
as entry criteria at large-scale events. However,
when the prevalence of disease drops
below a certain threshold, the marginal
benefit of requiring vaccinations will be
negligible. We are not at that point yet
though, " Friedman says.
-Andrea Zarczynski
eventmarketer.com
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Event Marketer Spring 2022

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