The gates to fairs are reopening, fans are returning to concerts, travelers are boarding planes, major sports games are kicking off again and people are finally attending events again. To say the pandemic has changed the landscape of the event industry is an understatement.
Here are some of the lessons we’ve learned over the past year and a half, and how events can successfully return.
Bringing Back 2020 Favorites
Did you host a socially-distanced or virtual event last year? The past year and a half has led to some pretty creative solutions from across the board that people ended up loving!
At fairgrounds and amphitheaters across the country, drive-in movie theaters popped up like popcorn. Last year, the Social Circle hosted a series of drive-in movies over Memorial Day Weekend at the State Fair of Louisiana. Before each showing, viewers also enjoyed live music from a local band.
If you did something last year that was well received, consider hosting it again! After their first Fair Food Drive-Thru drew more than 1,800 cars last summer, Cass County Fair decided to bring it back in 2021. For three days, guests could stop by the fairgrounds to satisfy their cravings for a fresh elephant ear or other fair faves.
Cass County Fair Board President Brian Kuemin told a local reporter, “This was really well received last year, and the community really came out to support our vendors. Our first one was hugely successful. People still want community events, and with the pandemic, people want to get out and do things. This was an opportunity for families to come out, and hey, who doesn’t want fair food?”
Connecting Online
Since we weren’t able to meet up in person in the past year, it’s been crucial to connect with fans and attendees digitally. The platforms you choose to promote on (Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, TikTok, LinkedIn) will depend on who your event is for or who you are targeting. Your best bet will be to do some type of promotion on a few different platforms to get the highest reach.
Once people are ready to buy tickets, don’t make it difficult for them! Having an integrated website and ticketing platform will make the checkout experience as smooth and seamless as possible, leading to higher ticket sales and improved customer satisfaction.
Going Cashless for a Better Experience
In order to reduce physical contact during transactions and at the box office, many events and venues switched to a digital, cashless ticketing experience. With Saffire’s contactless ticketing technology, you can create a safer, stress-free environment for anyone by eliminating points of physical contact when scanning, selling tickets and accepting payments.
When the South Florida Fair broke tradition for the first time in over one hundred years and decided to host two fairs in 2021, they also decided to introduce Saffire’s contactless ticketing system at the gates and in the midway. Attendees could skip the ticket booth line and get a digital QR code that would scan them into the fair. To encourage sales, the fair offered considerable weekend savings for advanced ticket purchasers. The South Florida Fair made history by being the only fair in the industry to hold two fairs in just four months, ending with a historic closing Sunday night.
Make Attendees Feel Comfortable
As excited as people are to get back to in-person events, they’re also conscious that some risk is still present. Making visible efforts to promote health and safety precautions will help guests feel more comfortable as they are welcomed back.
In accordance with many local mandates, proof of vaccination or a negative COVID-19 test is required for entering a venue or event space. Think about your customers and make this as simple as possible! Some events have even offered rapid on-site testing for attendees. Ensure your space is set-up to encourage social distancing, hand sanitizer is readily available and you have a supply of disposable face masks on hand. Details can make all the difference to ensure everyone feels safe coming to your event.
Be Data Driven
By using new ticketing technologies, you can better track your event attendance and monitor the data that is gained from those digital tools. For example, during the event it may be important to know in real time what the capacity of the venue is at or how many people have checked into a certain area.
Following your event, you can send out feedback forms to attendees to collect data about their experience. In addition to looking at ticket sales and extrapolating from attendee data, this info will be the most crucial information in planning your events in 2022 and beyond!
These are just a few of the biggest things we’ve notices from 2020-2021. And as we’ve learned recently, the future is always unexpected. If you have an idea or experience to share, drop us a line and let us know!
