Finding conflicting, out-of-date and simply inaccurate information when ascertaining how to safely execute events while abiding by local guidelines, Paige Mejia saw an opportunity to help herself plus her clients and peers. Seeking a clear understanding of the mandates on gatherings in North Texas, she contacted a city councilperson, a city attorney and a state senator, getting few usable answers.
So Mejia tracked down best-practices guides that were specific to Ohio and Michigan and used those as templates to create a North Texas-focused guide. She then talked with at least two vendors from each sector—makeup artist, planner, photographer, DJ, etc. (her fireworks company has primarily been working weddings as those are still happening while corporate gigs have vanished)—to get insight from their own little niches as to how they’re keeping things clean, safe and within the letter of the law. With that feedback and the Texas state mandate, she created the North Texas Event Services Reopening Guide.
“I just felt that something needed to be done,” she says. “I think this guide was partly to make myself feel better, but I wrote it because we needed to answer our own questions because no one was answering them for us.”
“As an industry, we understand the need to reduce the spread of the virus so that we can get back to work and normal lives—we’d really like to do that soon. The Reopening Guide serves that need for guidance. If [groups] follow it, that’ll give us the best chance to stop spreading the virus—and that’s really, at this point, all we can do.”
The following links are perfect jumping-off points for staying up to date on safety, security and coronavirus issues.
- Your Trusted Meeting & Event Resource is MPI’s central repository for all-things coronavirus. Here you’ll find links to original research and articles, exclusive live and on-demand professional education, as well as podcasts and government- and industry-created guidance.
- While it debuted in pre-COVID times, The Essential Guide to Safety and Security remains a relevant, must-have guide for meeting professionals—and there’s no cost.
- Join MPI’s Safety & Security Special Interest Group to discuss all of the above topics and more with your industry peers.
- The Pandemic Meeting & Event Certificate program, offered through a partnership between MPI and the Event Leadership Institute, assesses the current environment and maps new ways to plan and execute meetings and events.
- “As a long-distance runner and avid hiker, podcasts are my greatest source of new information and insight! I often download and listen to the Event Safety podcast,” Heidi Hughes says.
- MPI’s Event Crisis Communications Certificate program teaches participants how to use time-sensitive communications channels, including social media, when it really matters.
- The Emergency Preparedness for Events Certificate program provides the tools needed to effectively respond to crises.
WEC Exemplifies Duty of Care Best Practices
Throughout the planning of the World Education Congress (WEC)—Nov. 3-6 in Grapevine, Texas—MPI has focused greatly not just on duty of care but also communicating to stakeholders about duty of care at the event through a robust web page and an informational video.
