A New Era in Events: The Safety Technician

Centrifuge Media has several face-to-face events on the books for 2021. Can we stop a second here and just appreciate this incredible milestone? Wow. This time last year, the world had already put the brakes on in-person gatherings. It was a nerve-racking time to be in the events industry, which, of course, almost fully relies on the mass gatherings of people. At Centrifuge, we responded by pivoting to the virtual events landscape and found great success with remote meetings. Still, we’ve been eagerly awaiting this day.

As of April, many of our clients have begun pursuing either hybrid or fully in-person events. We’ve always believed meetings are not ‘one size fits all,’ and this is especially true at this transitional time. 

For example, one client is opting for a version of hybrid by bringing most of its executive team together in May and broadcasting out from a single space. Meanwhile, two different clients both plan to be fully in-person with groups of less than 100 this the Summer. A fourth client is anticipating a larger-sized hybrid event for Vegas in the Fall, with 80 percent of the audience in-person and 20 percent remote.

Whatever the recipe is, we’re excited. But we can’t successfully pull off these events without talking about COVID safety measures. Let’s break down the Centrifuge plan to keep presenters, attendees, patients, event and site staff, our own co-workers and anyone else who comes together, healthy.

Centrifuge Media will provide at least one trained Safety Technician to oversee every single in-person or hybrid event we produce for the foreseeable future. This role begins with site planning and continues through the end of the show. Consider this person your go-to for ensuring all protocols are followed.

Starting with the site survey, the Safety Technician will assess the space(s) and determine any potential need for altering the event agenda and design to accommodate safety practices, namely stagnant social distancing (seating, standing) and traffic flow (you know those directional arrows on the floors of your grocery store aisles? That kind of thing).

We’ll provide clients with this room-by-room information as we plan.

That said, some venues may have their own regulations in place for safety. Federal guidelines and mandates, along with state, city and county protocols for max capacities are constantly changing, too. The Safety Technician will stay up-to-date on these issues. As your planning partner, we strongly encourage thorough collaboration before a venue contract is signed to ensure the parameters of the space will effectively meet your needs and objectives.

Once the site is locked in, it’s time to think about all the various precautions to take for both preparation and showtime.

Some of these steps include conducting a pre-registration temperature check and wellness/potential exposure survey for attendees, providing personal protective equipment and enforcing mask-wearing for close encounters, disinfecting high contact areas and securing a surplus of equipment (like lavalier microphones and slide advancers), as well as ensuring social distancing and proper traffic flow.

On the back end, the Centrifuge crew and any contractors will be monitored to make sure our own A/V set up is also following safety protocols. This would include conducting also temperature checks, wiping down and sanitizing our equipment and maintaining social distancing, among other critical tasks.

Ultimately, the Safety Technician(s) will align with and monitor the best safety practices to guarantee a healthy gathering of friendly faces.

We also want our clients to know that as of April 13, several members of the Centrifuge team have elected to be vaccinated and already received one or both doses. Vaccination is a great step in ensuring our own safety, as well as the safety of others, as we get back to in-person events. Those who are vaccinated will still follow the established protocols as necessary.

The Centrifuge team can’t wait to see you in person, again!