Along with much of the world, I made some exciting return-to-normal plans this past summer. I penciled in the Big Gear Show, Outdoor Retailer, and a dear friend鈥檚 wedding in August. As an event producer coming off of a pandemic-induced hiatus, I was stoked to see my colleagues and friends after 18 months of hibernation. Plus, I was gearing up to put on the Grassroots Connect show in November, and I was eager to talk booth layouts and logistics. I鈥檇 even filled my downtime with courses and certifications in areas like event hazard and risk management, and I鈥檇 been developing contingency plans, safety protocols, and organizational strategies to ensure a safe environment for the fall show.
None of that prepared me to be an attendee at any of these gatherings. I drove four and a half hours up to Salt Lake City. And then, Saturday morning, I just couldn鈥檛 do it. I canceled everything.
What would have made a difference? Nothing. It was a personal state of mind. Even with precautions, the benefit of going to these gatherings鈥攆or me鈥攄id not outweigh the risk, perceived or real, of becoming a COVID-19 statistic. My nerves were not indicative of everyone鈥檚 mental state, but they did illustrate a larger issue: as we re-emerge into large-format gatherings in public places, acknowledging鈥 and respecting鈥攑eople鈥檚 personal space is integral to pulling off events that hinge on positive, in-person interactions. Given what we know now about the intractable staying power of the virus (even mitigated by vaccines), we can assume this isn鈥檛 a temporary issue. Plus, there鈥檚 that 鈥渋ntimacy creep鈥 to which every outdoor trade show attendee can attest: when someone you鈥檝e emailed with countless times but never met pulls you in for a big, uninvited bear hug. We are, after all, an industry that thrives on camaraderie.
That鈥檚 why, for Connect, we fine-tuned a solution that had launched at the Big Gear Show: the colored lanyard system. At registration, each participant was required to select a lanyard, courtesy of Chums eyewear retainers, in one of three universally familiar colors, each representing personal comfort levels: green (I鈥檓 OK with contact); yellow (please keep your distance); and red (caution, I鈥檓 sensitive to contact and appreciate distancing). We also aligned the colors with relevant songs on the event playlist and posted them on reminder signage throughout the convention center (think: Christina Aguilera鈥檚 鈥淐ome On Over鈥 and Stevie Nicks鈥檚 鈥淪tand Back鈥) to keep things fun. And voil脿: attendees had visual indicators to convey how they preferred to interact, sans judgment or awkward conversations (鈥淎re you hugging? Should we hug?鈥).
鈥淲e鈥檙e all happy to be back at shows, but I totally understand if someone doesn鈥檛 want a hug on day one,鈥 said Heath Christensen, Cotopaxi鈥檚 director of wholesale. 鈥淸The system] was a great way to respect people鈥檚 comfort levels as we all get used to in-person events again.鈥
One key with a system like this is softening the surrounding language to ask for participation rather than framing it as a policy demanding compliance. This should help planning teams鈥攚hether a pandemic rages or not鈥攎ake the path to attendance reassuring and seamless, not challenging and aggressive. And while no doubt some find it overkill, the lanyard is a tangible step forward in forging that path through the oxymoron that is social distancing. It鈥檚 a way to give people a voice in a conversation that鈥檚 not always easy to have. 鈥淲hat was most surprising was how much we underestimated how important it was for people to express how they felt about managing risk around the pandemic,鈥 said Kenji Haroutunian, trade show director of the Big Gear Show. 鈥淎ttendees truly appreciated this simple visual communication tool.鈥
While Outdoor Retailer at one point considered a similar color-coded button system, directors are instead just requiring masks at all times and social distancing measures at Snow Show 2022. Regardless, it鈥檚 clear that stringent precautions help in this new normal where gathering safely and respecting boundaries are as important as the business at hand. When I asked an attendee to describe, in one word, how he felt about being at Connect, he replied, 鈥淐omfortable.鈥 Success.