MEETINGS & CONFERENCE FACILITIES CONFERENCE CONCERNS
Due to open in Blackpool this month is a brand new £28m conference centre. The venue will have capacity for more than 1,600 delegates and will form part of the iconic Blackpool Winter Garden complex.
Meanwhile, another new events space – this time with capacity for 70 delegates - has just opened above historic Leeds Market. And conference company Etc Venues recently announced a 225% increase in bookings for the six weeks to mid-September 2021 compared with the previous six weeks.
These reports inject a ray of hope in the troubled conference and meetings market which has been brought to its knees after nearly two years of Covid-19. And large- scale exhibitions are once again able to go ahead as planned. However, any events held today will have a vastly different look and feel to pre-pandemic times.
One of the events being held this month after a series of postponements, for example, is The Cleaning Show which takes place at London’s ExCel Centre from 2nd - 4th November. Mask-wearing – though no longer obligatory in most public places - is a requirement for all delegates and visitors to the show. Social distancing protocols have also been implemented, and the entrance doors at the ExCel Centre are being kept open at all times. The aim is to improve ventilation while avoiding the need for delegates to have to touch doors and handles. Attendees are also subject to temperature checks on arrival.
Face coverings have also been made mandatory at the Scottish Event Campus, where the UN Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP26) is being held this month. Proof of COVID vaccination status or a recent negative test will also be required to gain entry to some events held at the SEC venue.
And of course, cleaning protocols are being enhanced at conference facilities everywhere, with particular attention being focused on high touch points. But despite these measures, the fact that COVID-19 case numbers remain high in the UK means that many people are nervous about mingling at large gatherings.
It is therefore impossible for venues to rule out the risk of Covid-19 outbreaks at their events. But what more can they do to reassure attendees and maximise safety?
One idea would be to stagger the arrival of delegates. Remote registration via a smartphone will help to alleviate queues at entrances – particularly if visitors are each given a specific time-slot to enter. This will avoid the risk of everyone descending on the show at once and forming crowds in the reception halls.
46 | TOMORROW’S FM
As conferences and exhibitions resume, how can events venues keep their delegates, exhibitors and visitors safe? And how can the washrooms be managed to avoid queues and logjams? Stuart Hands of Essity comes up with some solutions.
Similarly, casual visits to stands could be replaced by an appointment system with all meetings held in socially- distanced areas behind the stand itself. And contactless payments at food outlets will help to speed up queues while also avoiding the issue of contaminated coins being counted out and handed over to visitors.
Most people attending an all-day show will need to visit the washrooms at some point. But these, too, pose an infection risk.
It is hard to predict how many people will want to use the toilet at any one time, so there is potential for large numbers of people to end up being gathered together in a poorly-ventilated space.
Washroom bottlenecks could occur for a number of reasons such as a blocked toilet, messy cubicles or empty soap, toilet paper or hand towel dispensers. At some venues – such as the ExCeL Centre – every other sink and toilet cubicle has been blocked off to facilitate social distancing. The aim of this move is to provide everyone with more space inside the washroom. But on the downside, the number of available toilet and hand washing facilities has been cut by 50% – which will potentially lead to longer queues.
This presents a dilemma for event organisers: how do they speed up washroom visits while also making the facilities safe?
The answer is by installing systems that are quick and easy to use and that avert the risk of run-outs. And they also need to implement solutions that monitor cleaning needs and that help to prevent blockages.
Soap dispensers should be ergonomic and quick to use, and hand drying facilities should enable the hands to be dried swiftly and thoroughly. Tork Foam Soaps are a good option in conference centres because the Tork Skincare Dispenser requires a particularly low push-force to access the soap inside. This makes hand-washing quick and easy for attendees.
The dispenser also contains 2,500 shots of soap per refill compared with around 1,000 in most liquid soap systems. This means it is less likely to run out between maintenance checks.
Hand-drying time can be cut by at least a third when using a paper towel compared with even the fastest of air dryers. A high-capacity hand towel dispenser will speed up visits because it will allow visitors to take a towel and move on, drying their hands as they go while freeing up the unit for the next user. The Tork PeakServe Continuous Hand Towel Dispenser can deliver a towel in just three
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