Imagine the excitement of watching festivals or concerts that are always decorated with sparkling lights at some points and combined with colorful dim lights in other corners. Unique ornaments add to the joy of gathering with friends in a crowded atmosphere. Suddenly the COVID-19 outbreak hit, making all the fun have to stop. Everyone should stay at home. Travelling is limited, let alone gathering with friends to enjoy concerts.
Presenting the excitement of the concert and the aura of the festival is a challenge that all event activists never imagined before the Covid-19 outbreak. 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 COVID-19 pandemic. The event entitled “How to do event management in the pandemic era” was presented by Ibnu Darmawan, Junior Lecturer at the Department of Communication Science, Islamic University of Indonesia, on April 1, 2022, live on the ip.commucation.uii Instagram account.
“The ability to adapt and think creatively must be possessed in an era that will now lead to digital,” said Ibnu Darmawan. This challenge requires event activists to look for ideas to continue to provide entertainment during a pandemic without leaving the excitement and aura of concerts that have been carried out in open spaces or other public spaces.
What must be done or what abilities must be possessed to adapt in 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 organize events in a very limited manner and with a strict format. This restriction can be an attractive format for hosting a full or hybrid virtual event.
The second tip is to use the SMART formula by organizing specific, measurable events, paying attention to the goals and resources they have, being relevant, and having a reasonable timetable.
In addition to being mentally ready to face change, people who work to manage events must have excellent communication skills. “Adaptive to highly dynamic events, event organizing is a field that depends on the environment. Previously there were offline to online. The challenges are very different,” Ibnu added.
Seeing the digital world that continues to open up 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 related to sponsorship. Another keyword is collaboration. The work style nowadays is more collaborative,” said Ibnu.
