The Making of an "Empty Event"

On Friday, September 28th, Austin hosted its first #EmptyEvent to demonstrate the impact Covid19 has had on a once trillion dollar industry in the United States. But that’s certainly not where the movement to #SaveLiveEvents began. As we all now know, the live events industry has been one of the most hard-hit in both the American and global economies. It was the first to close and will likely be one of the last to “re-open” as individuals and corporations struggle with comfortability and liability issues. We recognize that many are struggling but the metrics behind the shutdown are far more telling than just retoric.

By The Numbers

All metrics from www.PLSN.com

A Brief History of the Live Events Coalition

“The Live Events Coalition was formed by industry leaders who rallied around a Change.org petition launched on March 19, 2020 by Isaac Rothwell immediately following the halt of all live events due to the evolving national public health emergency and the worldwide pandemic caused by COVID-19.”

Since March, the mission of the Live Events Coalition has been to advocate for and support the diverse group of individuals who make up the live events industry. Out of that mission came the goal of drawing attention to the catastrophic impact the pandemic has wrought on people’s lives and livelihoods and enacting change though legislation. In July, “The RESTART Act“ was introduced to the House of Representatives by Jared Golden (D-ME) and Mike Kelly (R-PA) in an effort to leverage congressional support. 

““The RESTART Act provides a solution to the desperate need for capital faced by cinemas, theaters, live music venues and performing artists, agents, and touring teams, events management professionals, restaurants, places of amusement, recreational businesses, and health and fitness clubs whose operations have been severely crippled by the pandemic. The aim of the legislation is to establish a loan program tailored to the circumstances of small and mid-sized shuttered businesses that have experienced more than 25% in losses. The RESTART loan program provides access to partially forgivable seven-year loans covering six months of expenses, a lifeline for our businesses that have been left behind by existing loan programs.””

— Live Events Coalition

Since the formation of the LEC, we’ve seen activism across the country to raise awareness about an industry on the brink of disaster. First efforts were made at Salt Lake City’s “Walk for Work,” Philly’s rally at City Hall and Florida’s statment-making stand-in outside Senator Rubio’s Office. Most recent iterations have included something more publicly visible and emotionally visceral - the #EmptyEvent. We’ve seen these pop up from New York City’s Time Square to LA’s Walk of Fame to The National Mall in Washington DC and they have underscored the pervasiveness of the issues we face. 

 Working in collaboration with the Texas Live Events Coalition, Meritage Events spearheaded the #EmptyEvent here in Austin. A call for volunteers was put out along with requests for the physical set-pieces that make an event identifiable. Our team assembled at 11:30am at the Long Center on one of the hottest days this summer, a blistering 106 degrees, with a dedication that was unparalleled. Women and men from across the industry, many of whom are usually overseeing entire sight set-ups from behind clipboards, schlepped tables and chairs, folded napkins, placed name cards and labored with a smile (and a few water breaks) to honor those who have been out of work for almost six months now. What we produced was something equally striking and chilling…

Sincerest thanks to the following for their on-site efforts…

The Long Center graciously offered their terrace for set-up. Big House Sound Incorporated, Fidelis Sound & Lighting and Roadway Productions collaborated on audio and visual services and staging. Booth Easy set up a wonderful photobooth and provided photo coverage of the event. Jerry Hayes Photography captured the event in both video and photo formats.

Townsley Designs provided large scale props and decor. Full Spectrum Ice created a stunning ice sculpture for display. Shag Carpet Prop Rentals created and provided the Texas Live Events Coalition standing signage for our centerpieces. Premiere Event Rentals volunteered delivery and use of their table linens and chargers. Green Dot Events made our cocktail tables shine with custom Austin cube lights and American Color Labs printed the #SaveLiveEvents banners for our display.

Special thanks to Nikko’s Worldwide Chaffeured Services who displayed a luxury sedan, SUV and mini bus to represent their sector. Nikko’s fleet was dispatched just days prior to help evacuate those in Hurricane Laura’s path. We appreciate ALL you do for our industry and our community!

And finally, we cannot forget the incredible individuals who volunteered their talents and time with us. Laurie Sprouse of Ultimate Ventures DMC, Fallon Allison of McGuire Moorman Hospitality, Gary Jones of Green Dot, Lauren Chumbley of Eclipse Event Company, Wendy Reed of RMC DMC, Tammy McCormick and Todd Zint of Access DMC, and Skeeter & Vanessa Miller with County Line Inc. Thanks also go out to Becky Navarro with Pearl Events & Woodbine Mansion for the Starbucks drop-off that kept us going!

How Can I Help?

If you’re reading this and are, like us, anxiously awaiting help from our government, please take action!

You can also contribute to the movement by sharing the following hastags in your social media posts…#WeMakeEvents, #SaveLiveEvents, #RedAlertRESTART, #WishIWasThere

- Stratton

Leading The Discussion On Safety At Events

Over the past few months, with more time on our hands than we’d truthfully like, our team has been focusing on education and our committed effort to #GatherGreater. Our newest campaign is about not only implementing new safety and sanitation protocols but also how we can create more inclusive environments for all event attendees.

With the wide world of events changing rapidly around all of us, the pandemic has left many event professionals feeling unmoored. Governmental agencies release varying policies on everything from venue capacities to mask-wearing daily, making anything more complex than planning dinner in one’s own home seem almost impossible to “get right” without use of a crystal ball.

In 2011, the events industry faced a similar turning point. After a number of dangerous and sadly fatal accidents took place (see: the Indiana State Fair incident) local lawmakers got involved to begin legislating change in safety standards for theirarea of jurisdiction. Luckily, a number of leaders in the events industry stepped forward first. Their plea was to allow the industry itself to correct its OWN mistakes, re-examine standards and truly standardize processes based on principles that would be recognized globally - instead of JUST in one state, country or venue. A sort of “common denominator” of safety standards that everyone would be held to.

The same should be true for Covid-19 and other bio-risks. While not all infectious diseases spread the same way, we can implement practices and procedures that allow for the greatest mitigation of spread through particulates, whether on surfaces or airborne, and apply to all events. We desperately need the Events Industry Council and/or the Event Safety Alliance to once again, demand a seat at the table to establish applicable safety standards and best practices.

While we’re still assembling our biohazard standards dream-team, here are the top 5 ways agencies can prepare for live and hybrid events and contribute to the conversation now...

Hotels and Venues:

Get to know hotel’s and venue’s…

• Revised or upgraded internal processes for sanitation

• Social distancing diagrams, layouts and adapted flow plans.

• New or adjusted attrition & cancellation clauses

• New food and beverage service options and safety measures

• Safety accreditations they have earned such as the Global Biohazard Advisory Council’s STAR Accreditation. (Also note, Destination Management Organizations and city Convention and Visitor’s Bureaus can earn this accreditation, too.)

Want to learn more about the some of the big hotel players cleanliness initiatives? Check out a comprehensive list of hotel safety & hygiene protocols by clicking the button below…

Vendors & Suppliers

• Work with local vendors and suppliers to ideate on your needs for new safety measures.

• Regularly check-in with your partners as they, too, have been using this pause creatively and can provide some very inventive ideas on everything from social distancing to remote experiences!

Event Planning Professionals

• Normalize new event inclusions such as sanitation and safety measures. Pitch these concepts to clients as the standard. As a bonus, thermal readers and sanitation stations may be presented as branding opportunities for sponsors, partners or the client themselves.

• Encourage the use of digital media; making hybrid events commonplace and the bridge to larger live in-person events.

• For those who are executing live events, share best practices as you discover them!

This is the time for competitors, friendlies and all those to connected to the hospitality and events industry to share what works and most importantly what doesn’t. The faster we all knowhow to “do it right” will give corporate groups the confidence to get back to business.

Our friends over at Event MB said it best in an article about Hybrid Events and the Future of the Event Industry…

“The number of people able and willing to attend the initial live events that are allowed to take place will be limited for a variety of reasons. The physical space may be limited due to health and safety measures, company budgets may be cut, and many people may still be wary of travel and gathering in groups long after governments give the all-clear. Leveraging hybrid event strategies will allow event organizers to maintain their numbers even if their live audience is small.”

— Event Manager Blog

We’ve all been collectively holding our breath, but we, as an industry, have yet to realize our true potential for changing the outcome of this setback. With many large metropolitan cities and entire states beholden to the events, hospitality and travel industries, we are the gatekeepers to a return to “business (sort of) as usual.” If we can leverage this opportunity, we can “own” the ways we need to operate rather than have piecemeal guidelines handed to us, we can take charge of the safety of our staff, protect our providers and ensure the wellness of attendees best because we know the intricacies of meeting.

We can’t wait til we can all #GatherGreater.

We would love to hear your thoughts on what you’re doing or planning to navigate this new normal. Please leave us comments below or on our LinkedIn post directly!

From The Many Desks of the President...

As I finally sat down to write this blog post, my kiddos buzzing around my desk, I began to consider how I could possibly sustain the situation I found myself in. Quarantining in Dallas, Texas, our household includes myself, my husband and our 6-year-old and 9-year-old children, both of whom we are now homeschooling. Surprise! Now I know I’m not the only one in this position but I am also the Owner and President of a small business that has been hit remarkably hard by this pandemic.

When the world started closing down and clients began to reschedule and/or cancel their events, I had a lot to consider. My primary role in my company is mostly as the CFO; taking care of day to day finances and strategizing for the future. As one can imagine, spending the last few weeks learning the ins and outs of new government stimulus options for SBAs, filing insurance claims, and worrying about our own staff has been compounded by the complexity of vendor payments and, honestly, trying to predict the future. Did I mention I now have my family leaning on me during work-hours for meals, learning, entertainment and general mom-things?

Pre-COVID19, I had a blissfully predictable schedule. My kids attended school from 8:00am to 4:00pm, I had the opportunity to manage a good workout and a solid six to seven hours of focused work. I really had it all. Now, my days have been overrun by video calls for my children’s school, teaching, reading, overseeing test-taking, math facts, and what feels like endless paperwork. (THANK YOU to all the teachers out there who do this Monday through Friday!) Amidst the chaos, I’m lucky to muster two hours a day to put my head down and really work.

I have always considered myself an exceptional multitasker and early on, I woke up each morning with a sunny disposition, saying, “I am going to take on this day like I do any challenge and I am going to conquer it.” I planned, reviewed lessons, scrutinized my schedule, and assigned my own work duties each day and yet, a productive day seemed out of reach. After a few weeks of incomplete to-do lists and falling short of my goals, I began to feel uncertain about the woman in the mirror. I‘ve run marathons and completed an Iron Man and somehow, the hurdles of managing my life, my family’s lives and keeping the business afloat were bringing me to my knees.

March was a difficult month, April felt impossible, but then came May. The end of the school year finish line in sight and I finally feel like I’ve “hit my stride.” The normalcy of a schedule is beginning to emerge from the craziness and, thanks to the regular chats I have with Tacy (our VP) the lows don’t feel quite so low and the tearful moments are fewer and further between. I am learning to operate in a new way and, most importantly, I’m learning to allow myself a little grace.

I have always been a goal-setter and in the past few weeks, I have redoubled my efforts on the outlook for 2021 and beyond. I have allowed myself to dream with big goals and celebrate little wins with smaller ones. I have had the opportunity to reflect not only on the business, but on my personal life as well. Giving myself the space and time to articulate both my frustrations and my aspirations has left me in an overall, better place.

Today, I see more clearly. My children are doing well with school and I am lucky to have the time with them that many parents do not have with their kids. Meritage Events is still in business despite the fiscal consequences of coronavirus and the uncertainty of what is to come for our industry.

And here I am, still setting audacious goals with fierce determination to conquer them.

- Katie

Back To Life, Back to Reality

Imagine you are going about your daily routine and job responsibilities in early February, then you snap your fingers and BOOM, you are transported to mid-April in the thick of a global pandemic with a shelter in place order and a crying eight-week-old baby. That’s essentially what happened to me. 

You see, I began my 8 week maternity leave in mid-February, the day before I was induced to have my baby girl, Emma. Being a planner, I worked on a maternity plan for MONTHS full of proposals to finish, clients to check in on, leads to follow up on and more. I tapped different team members to help with different items, set reminders in our project management software, and had already anticipated what would be waiting for me when I came back in mid-April.

Well, let’s just say nothing went according to plan. As we now all know, about 2 weeks into my leave $h*t hit the fan. Being the amazing ladies they are, my team was trying to protect me from the tough, awful reality they were dealing with. The clients canceling events, leads no longer interested in talking to us, fellow planners and partners being laid off or furloughed...I could not believe what I was hearing.

Before I left, my plan was to come back after eight weeks and seamlessly resume the role I’ve maintained for over seven years. But you know what they say, “if you want to make God laugh, tell him your plans.” I came back to a smaller team, an empty Spring calendar, a list of leads no longer needing our services, prospects no longer interested, a slew of relationships I spent 7+ years building no longer relevant due to lay offs and furloughs, and new job responsibilities due to our downsizing. Apparently we have a blog now? All while trying to figure out what the future brings for the hospitality industry and our clients and how to manage a household with a newborn and trying to avoid COVID-19.

Aside from the struggles at “the office”, there is the whole “raising a newborn during an epidemic” we’ve had to deal with. Not being able to have friends or family visit to meet Emma; not being able to just throw her in a carrier and roam Target on the days you just NEED to get out of the house; having to suit up in masks and gloves just to go to the pediatrician, only to then have to decide which parent gets to go into the exam room with her for her 2 month old shots; not being able to leave her with Grandma and Grandpa for a few hours just so we can get out of the house because really, there’s nowhere to go. Then there are the complications of running to the grocery store for essentials and having to sanitize everything when we get home to ensure everyone is safe (while she’s crying because you’re home and she wants you to hold her.) It’s tough. I’d be lying if I said I didn’t lay awake at night thinking about what would happen if my husband or I contracted COVID-19. Weeks without being able to hold my baby? Kiss those cheeks? Notice the changes she’s making daily? Surely enough to keep me awake more than I’d like to admit and I do not need another reason to lose precious sleep!)

My transition back to “the office,” however remote, was a bit more jarring than I’d planned. My days went from baby snuggles on the couch while binging Ozark season 3 and Tiger King, to staring at my Outlook inbox with no idea what the heck to do next. Not an awesome feeling for someone who always tries to have a Plan A, Plan B and 87 or so check lists at any given moment.  

To say the past few weeks have been stressful is an understatement. With all of this being said, I am ridiculously grateful for my supportive family nearby, a rockstar husband who my daughter adores, and the best team on the planet. A team who has understood this tough season I’m going through; a team who is giving me the time to adjust to this “new normal” they have had a few more weeks to process; a team who is working around newborn nap schedules (and I’m using “schedule” loosely); a team who looks past my blank stares on Zoom calls when I just cannot process anything else at the moment; a team who is giving me the grace I need and understands this is all temporary.

I think it’s safe to say 2020 has already been full of high highs and low lows. It’s also safe to say that I’ve never been more proud to be a part of the Meritage team.

We have been using this time to adapt...we have been brainstorming like crazy; acting like sponges to all types of new technology and virtual services; redesigning marketing collateral; checking in with clients and partners to see how they are hanging in there; strategizing, and, well, reaching for the stars.

This year Meritage will celebrate 15 years in business, and I’m going to assume on behalf of Katie and Tacy that this 15th year is the hardest. However, we are here to stay and excited for what the future holds, crying babies in the background of Zoom calls and all.

- Nicole