I'm on the Leadership Team of the Sustainable Event Alliance and I chose to spend my re-set time to help organize a Hack-a thon! We can't yet accurately forecast how communities, economies, and systems will respond and recover as we make our way through the Covid-19 global crisis. During this pivotal moment, we invite people from throughout our industry to come together for supportive and therapeutic sessions to discuss and imagine what the future for events could be.

We are using our time-out to reimagine the next phase for the events industry.

The Hack-a-thon, brought to you by the Sustainable Event Alliance, is just a few days away and we are super excited to join with over 500 sustainable event professionals from around the globe Wednesday, April 15th.

What will be discussed?

• Will there be events at all? Will events be allowed and in what format? How long  might we have to do social distancing and what does that look like at an event? What does this mean for food and beverage health and safety and service, accessibility, safety, logistics, crowd control?
• Let's discuss the role of events in rebuilding community. Might we all end up being distrustful of each other or might we come out stronger as we all went through this together? What does that mean for the spirit of events?
• ​What does the short term job prospect look like? What are our transferable skills and how could they be deployed in the next six months?
• As cities start to awake and new ways of doing business are devised, how can we structure event processes to be more sustainable and get policies in that will be beneficial?  
• What flow-on benefits could we see to environmental impacts and resource conservation because of this lock down. What does this mean for 'sustainable events' moving ahead?
• Is this going to be a nightmare and single-use is the new norm because of fear of contamination? How will we deal with that?
• What solutions needs to be innovated and where are the opportunities for us working in this sector, either for events or transferable to other needs?

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Let's get together, create a positive future, and envision an event industry that is good for all!

​Come join me!

I’m here at The Special Event + Catersource show in Las Vegas this week hosting the class “Don’t Get Wasted: Managing Food Waste in Events. Seems like we’ll have a lot less waste in the coming weeks. The live events industry is taking a serious hit with the COVID-19 global pandemic.

Events are being canceled across the board. Event planners, venues, caterers and all their staff are suddenly in a situation of uncertainty of their business.

The industry as a whole seems to be looking at this a temporary set-back but ready to move forward in a safe and responsible way. Here are some of the takeaways:

1. Take “reasonable measures”  to get ahead of the situation. You may want to consult an attorney to define what “reasonable” is!
2. Communicate precautions to all staff. Identify the actions you are taking and what their role is in executing these precautions.
3. Publish a list and issues a statement to your clients of these precautions to mitigate any possible spread of illness. I’ve already seen several e-mails from vendors announcing their policies. Get that list from all your vendors. List at least the minimum actions such as:
   • All staff will wash hands every 15 minutes;
   • There will be more spacing of hors d’oeuvres on trays;
   • No staff will work if they feel under the weather.
4. “Duty of care”–As a planner or venue, it is your responsibility to ensure all activity behind scenes and interactions between staff and attendees is monitored so you are not spreading any illness to attendees. Check where staff have travelled.
5. Attendees responsibility— If attendee is sick, they should not attend. It is their responsibility to not put anyone else at risk.
6. Handshakes are out.
7. Check your city where you may be having an event. Some cities are putting restrictions on activities, public gatherings and events.
8. If your event is out of town, be mindful some of your staff may not want to travel.
9. Sanitation supplies may be hard to get. You can make your own with Aloe Vera get and rubbing alcohol. Add some essential oils.
10.  Have hand sanitizing stations at all entry/exits to all meeting room doors, and beginning and end of all buffets or coffee stations.
11. Honestly, I would rethink your buffet and not have them.  You should not touch metal surfaces that others touch-such as coffee urns, serving pieces. Have gloved wait staff to pour and serve. If you don’t have wait staff use a glove or napkin to pour the cream.
12. Avoid packing people into tight spaces. Allow for Personal space. Timing and space issues make all this tricky.

​Many colleagues, including me, have lost clients and business this week. We’re all in this and hope for the best.