How to Plan Events During a Pandemic
Imagine the excitement of watching festivals and concerts, which are always decorated with sparkling lights at some points and combined with dim, colorful lights at other angles. Unique ornaments add to the joy of gathering with friends in a busy atmosphere. Suddenly the covid outbreak hit, making all the excitement have to stop. Everyone must stay at home. Traveling is limited, let alone gathering with friends to enjoy concerts.
Presenting the excitement of concerts and the aura of festivals is a challenge that all event activists had never imagined before the outbreak of Covid19. In the Teatime talk show held by the International Program of Communication department, the Islamic University of Indonesia discussed how to organize events in the era of the co-19 pandemic. The event titled “How to do event management in the pandemic era” presents Ibnu Darmawan, Junior Lecture at the Department of Communication, Universitas Islam Indonesia, on April 1, 2022, live on the Instagram account ip.communication.uii.
“The ability to adapt and think creatively must be possessed in an era that is now going digital,” said Ibnu Darmawan. This challenge requires event activists to look for ideas to continue providing entertainment amid a pandemic without leaving the excitement and aura of concerts that have so far been held in open spaces or other public spaces.
Preparation What Needs to be done?
The question is, what must be done or what skills must be possessed to adapt to the pandemic era? Ibnu Darmawan provides tips and tricks to make the event more focused. According to Ibnu, following the basic regulations set by the ministry of tourism and creative economy (Kemenparekraf) in 2022, to hold events in a very limited manner and with a strict format.
This restriction can be an interesting format for hosting full or hybrid virtual events. The second tip is to use the SMART formula by organizing specific, measurable events, paying attention to your goals and resources, being relevant, and having a reasonable timetable.
In addition to the mentality that is always ready to face change, people who work to manage events must have excellent communication skills. “Adaptive to very dynamic events, event organizing is a field that depends on the environment. Previously there was offline to online. The challenges are very different,” Ibnu added.
Looking at the digital world that continues to open opportunities to connect with various parts of the world and completely different fields, Ibnu underlines communication and collaboration skills. “Communication skills are a must, how to negotiate with various parties, especially sponsorship-related. Another keyword is collaboration. The style of work now is more collaborative,” said Ibnu.
