Fail to Adapt, Fail to Move Forward

Safety In Experiential Events & Hope for the Future

Turnkey DOT celebrated our 5-year anniversary this past October. Looking ahead to what is next, we’ve made strides to enforce safety in live events and to work towards our industry’s steady rebirth.

Experiential marketing has experienced perhaps one of the most intense “pauses” due to the 2020 pandemic, forcing event professionals around the world to wonder where the future of the industry lies. The month of March shook many people into dark states of confusion as live events around the world were postponed, shutdown, or completely cancelled abruptly. Companies were made to figure out just how we would each individually survive. Now, with nearly nine months of the 2020 pandemic having come and gone, it is quite clear that an industry-wide, team effort will be needed to see our beloved world come back to life – slowly, but surely (and safely). With more knowledge on what this current crisis is, comes the ability to take the proper safety precautions to bring the events world back to life at a steady pace. Though we know this is an ongoing challenge, encouraging safe atmospheres for others to enjoy physical interaction once again is an opportunity that we find cannot be missed, if done correctly.

The Turnkey DOT team recently had the pleasure of getting the HydraFacial Keravive Mobile Tour back on the road, for a client of ours that kicked off 2020 by promoting a brand-new service offering. Determined to end the year on a strong note we asked ourselves – how can we make this happen for them? Every state, city and county in the U.S. currently enforces their own specific set of COVID-19 guidelines, and extensive research on each market intended for an event is so important. Though, it is equally as important to incorporate certain elements that will transcend from city to city. It would fare well in most cases to ensure that a high comfort level for consumers is always accounted for, to take any stress or apprehension out of the equation.

Turnkey DOT specializes in nationwide event management and transportation/logistics, though one thing that sets us apart, is the ability to connect with our consumers and clients on a personal level, doing what it takes to get the job done no matter what – in today’s world, that focuses intensely on the comfort levels of anyone involved in an activation from top to bottom. Transforming an existing mobile tour into a Covid-friendly mobile tour was not to be taken lightly, but proved to be possible. Ensuring safety and the ideal comfort levels of your guests and staff can be as easy as hiring overly-communicative, responsible staff members that will lead by example. Masks to be worn at all times, proper display signage informing “no entry without masks”, enforcing strict social distancing protocols, and even hiring brand ambassadors who’s sole responsibilities are to ensure surfaces are well-sanitized after each individual use, and to dole out hand sanitizer to their fellow staff members, as well as guests.

Perhaps the greatest tool is the use of the outdoors in markets where the weather holds up through the colder months, and the use of outdoor-durable event assets. People right now are inherently most comfortable when outdoors, and this may be the current key to executing what is considered a “safe event”. Some of these simple yet effective tactics helped us to pull off a lineage of live events for our client by way of the Keravive mobile tour, deemed safe by each city and outdoor locations we secured. Event marketing companies everywhere can use this model as a reminder that we can all do our part to be safe and responsible, while keeping in mind that traditional experiential marketing is not dead yet. 

In the end, we really are all in this together. It will take positive efforts from everyone in our industry, from CEOs, to tour managers, to consumers, to be sure events during this time can be deemed safe for everyone involved. It’s not the time for full-steam ahead, but slow and steady progress can continue to push us in the direction of the outcome we all long for – the eventual return of live events.

A comprehensive list of protocols Turnkey DOT enforces:

• Anyone (consumers or staff members) that has experienced any COVID-19 symptoms or doesn’t feel well should not enter the footprint.
• All staff members required to be masked and wear gloves at all times.
• All guests are required to be masked upon entry of the footprint, and during the duration of their time in the footprint.
• Staff will enforce social distancing and limit the amount of people waiting in any line.
• Staff will disperse crowds of bystanders should they begin to form.
• Temperature checks and hand sanitization will be required to enter the footprint.
• One-way foot traffic within the footprint, enforced by staff, and signage indicating entry and exit.
• Treatment chairs dispersed – only (1) on the tour truck, the others (3) separated under their own individual 10 x 10 tents.
• Large hand sanitizing stations separating treatment stations.
• Complimentary masks available on site for consumers that may have forgotten them.
• Staff to clean and wipe down all surfaces constantly, and especially after each individual use. 

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