As a business in the event industry, we are constantly navigating the future of events and how to keep our team & others safe.  In today’s episode, we are giving our insight on common themes we have seen this year, the policies that we have put into place, our updated contract, and so much more.

We are NOT experts in COVID and know that things are much different here in Texas than a lot of the world, but we hope today’s episode can give you some insight and tips on how to navigate this “new normal.”

Common Event Themes in Dallas, Texas

Some large-scale corporate events being cancelled.

We have a lot of clients that come to us for advice on what other companies are doing when it comes to events.  This is why we feel it’s important to be knowledgeable about what is going on and how companies can continue to have events while keeping others safe! We have seen some corporate events being cancelled, but we’ve also seen companies like Michelob Ultra who are continuing their event and making adjustments for COVID. 

Brand Activations are hot in our market! 

Brand activations are a hit right now with the rise of online marketing.  A brand activation is an event where brands invite influencers to share about their products! It’s jam-packed with “Instagrammable” moments and is a great opportunity for rental companies.

Weddings are still happening, some at a smaller scale.

We are seeing weddings back in full-force. Some are at a smaller scale, but we’ve had recent weddings with 300+ guests.

Virtual events on the rise! 

This is probably an obvious one, but we’ve gotten an influx of inquiries for virtual events.  There are still tons of great opportunities for rental companies as a lot of these virtual events are needing set design.  If you haven’t started offering styling services, we highly recommend doing so! There are so many ins and outs when it comes to set design and we’ve had to learn a lot about production, camera angles, and more. Ask lots of questions to set your team up for success!

Hybrid events — The “new normal.” 

Hybrid events are likely to become the “new normal” around the world.   Hybrid events are in-person events with the option of attending online. This is great for those who don’t feel quite comfortable being around a lot of people yet.  This will come with it’s challenges, though, as you’ll have to pay close attention to the in-person AND online experience when designing the space.

New Policies

Since the world opened back up, we’ve implemented some new policies in order to keep our team and clients safe. This is also for our clients’ peace of mind. We want them to know that they are being taken care of on our end! 

1. We sanitize all rentals before and after use! We use Clorox wipes to wipe down all hard surfaces, and Lysol for all fabrics.
2. We require that our team wears a mask on-site.
3. We’ve implemented a new hybrid work schedule that allows the team to work from home 3 days a week. You can hear all about this on our last episode, Best Practices for WFH!

Updating your Contract

If you haven’t already, we highly recommend updating your contract so that it includes your COVID-19 policy. We decided to give any client who needs to reschedule the option to use a rental credit for their new date.  This keeps us & the client safe by ensuring that we aren’t losing a ton of money. If you have any questions regarding your contract, have your attorney take a look to be sure that you are covering all of your basis. We have our Rental Contract for sale as a starting place if you don’t want to build your contract from scratch.

Anticipations for 2022

Here’s what we are anticipating for 2022:

1. Quick Turnarounds — We have seen this trend in 2021 and don’t expect it to end anytime soon.  With all the unknowns, people are making last-minute decisions and changes to events! This can be really difficult when rental companies are getting same-day or next-day requests.  We recommend adding in a quick-turnaround fee (ours is 20% of the rentals) for those so that your clients will understand the difficulty of short timelines.

2. Difficulty with Staffing — As we all know, it has been extremely difficult getting staffing during this time.  Small businesses everywhere are dealing with this.  Unfortunately, we anticipate this to be an on-going struggle in 2022.  If you need staff on the weekends, maybe think about offering a late-night fee to your delivery crew who works after 10 PM.  This could be a great incentive to get more staffing!

3. Fully Immersive Brand Activations — We’ve seen brand activations rise in our market, but we believe that they are about to become a fully built-out experience.  We’ve had multiple corporate clients that want to create a “template” for their brand activation then recreate it in multiple large cities.  We are excited for what’s to come with brand activations and the curated events that rental companies will help design!

Again, we are not experts in COVID, but we are experts in events. We wanted to give our insight and give any pointers we have for navigating this crazy time in the world.  Give this episode a listen or watch on YouTube!