Hello,
We are just wrapping up our project adjusting our diagrams to give us a better idea of the capacities that we will be able to accommodate. We've created two versions, one with a set at 50% of the original capacity and one that observes social distancing guidelines.
We've closed the request process from now through August 31. Our office is still accepting reservations for the Fall and beyond but we have an EMS comment we've created and are adding to all reservations. The comment roughly outlines that our office reserves the right to adjust the room set up to meet social distancing guidelines.
Something else that we are considering is a statement/agreement of some kind that explains where our responsibilities lie and our expectations of the event planners. I would love to hear if anyone else already has language like this drafted up.
Additionally, our directors team is creating a FAQ that will outline all of our cleaning measures etc.
Mei-Chun Woo
University of Washington
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Mei-Chun Woo
Event Planning Supervisor
University of Washington
Seattle WA
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Original Message:
Sent: 05-22-2020 14:08
From: Wendy Denman
Subject: Procedures for taking reservations for fall and communicating possible changes due to Covid
We are similarly looking at an agreement for the client - regarding rules about masks, social distancing, etc. It will also talk about the cleaning measures we take between meetings/events.
We are also looking at increasing our streaming equipment for rooms so we can work with groups to do hybrid meetings (some in person/some people on zoom or similar and/or streaming to multiple rooms for sessions to spread people out.
Wendy
University of North Texas
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Wendy Denman
Executive Director
University of North Texas
Denton TX
Original Message:
Sent: 05-21-2020 13:43
From: Chrissie King
Subject: Procedures for taking reservations for fall and communicating possible changes due to Covid
Thanks for posting about this Mark....you must have literally been reading our minds at Rutgers-Camden! We just had the same conversation about much of what you posted, and right now we are all in a fluid type of situation. We too are placing holds on spaces for some of the bigger programs, more so Admissions events and Board of Governors. We are working to revamp our diagrams for our spaces, talking about not having programs larger than 100 people, discussing a mandatory/highly recommended continuation of WebEx use for smaller meetings, and how our normal event space may have to be used for classroom space instead. We are also configuring static set-ups in our rooms so that equipment is easier to set-up and maintain.
My question is...has anyone figured out how to manage the number of attendees that enter a meeting? or ensuring that a set-up remains as is for the duration of an event?
Look forward to chatting through all of this!
~Chrissie
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Chrissie King
Assistant Director
Rutgers University–Camden
Camden NJ
chrissie.king@rutgers.edu
Original Message:
Sent: 05-21-2020 12:51
From: Mark Venhuizen
Subject: Procedures for taking reservations for fall and communicating possible changes due to Covid
Hello,
Our student union is still taking reservations for fall and spring events as all our state universities are planning on being open for face to face classes at the end of August. Many of our campus stakeholders making reservations are doing so as they did before Covid. We are currently allowing these reservations so if conditions improve, we can be in a position to move forward and service those events. The thought being that it's better for customers to have reservations in place and have to cancel if needed than to have to try to find space for events once restrictions relax.
We have been re-evaluating our building and conference room capacities and are obviously finding that if we follow the CDC guidelines, we will not be able to service those weekly club meetings, banquets, promo tables, etc, at normal participant levels while maintaining the recommended social distance. We are sharing our adjusted space occupancy levels with clients, offering Zoom/Teams options etc.
How are other institutions dealing with taking reservations knowing that you won't be able to service weekly meetings, concert, or the yearly banquet or festival at pre pandemic levels? How are you communicating with your stakeholders that while they do have a reservation, the event execution will depend on the status of the pandemic and the state/universities response? Have you modified reservation confirmations to communicate the tentative nature of event planning "in these trying, unprecedented times?"
Thanks much,
Mark