PLUG MAGAZINE- MAY 2020

If events resume,
people might not
show up
ome public officials aren’t taking “no” for an answer.
Governors of states including Missouri and Arkansas
have decided to reopen large events
and gatherings beginning this week. To help
mitigate the spread of the virus, the states are
ordering that seating must be “spaced out according
to social distancing requirements.” The
enforcement around distancing is vague, however.
Missouri Gov. Mike Parson’s office said “the
state is working with local health authorities to
support the order.” In Arkansas, “signs advise no
entry if recent fever, symptoms or contact with
positive patient,” according to Gov. Asa Hutchinson’s
office.
Other states with comparable outbreak levels
will surely take cues on how to proceed based
on what happens in states that reopen. But
simply allowing large gatherings doesn’t mean
people will actually attend them.
SAP’s Qualtrics, the employee management
software company, polled 2,000 U.S. residents
at the end of April about how comfortable they
were returning to different aspects of life. Attending
a concert or sporting event topped the
list of “most uncomfortable,” with about 80% of
respondents saying they weren’t comfortable
going to a live event.
“To get the country back to where we need to
be, we need to get hearts and minds in the right
spot,” said Qualtrics CEO Ryan Smith, who has
advised clients, including the NBA, on returning
to normal. “Take something like the NBA.
If you’re thinking about reopening, none of it
matters if you can’t figure out what’s going to
make fans feel comfortable. Now’s not the time
to guess.”
Even if league commissioners or public officials
reopen arenas for conferences, concerts and
sports, it’s dangerous to attend while new cases
are still arising, said Dr. Ashish Jha, professor of
health policy at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of
Public Health. People understand that.
“I don’t need my governor to tell me I should
avoid getting sick and dying,” Jha said.
Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti and Dallas
Mavericks owner Mark Cuban agreed that large
gatherings are inextricably tied to how quickly
doctors can come up with effective treatment
or immunization.
“It’s difficult to imagine us getting together in the
thousands anytime soon, so I think we should
be prepared for that this year,” Garcetti told
CNN. “I think we all have never wanted science
to work so quickly. But until there’s either a vaccine,
some sort of pharmaceutical intervention,
or herd immunity, the science is the science.
And public health officials have made very clear
we have miles and miles to walk before we can
be back in those environments.”
Still, Cuban wouldn’t rule out getting fans back
in seats sooner than others suggested. While he
wouldn’t estimate a timeline, he also wouldn’t
eliminate a late 2020 return for the NBA. “We
have some amazing scientists,” Cuban said in
an e-mail. “Unknown is unknown. The science
will guide us.”
Say goodbye to large weddings, too
Large weddings, religious rites of passage and “Maybe instead of 150 people, you have 50 or maybe you only have 20,” Petersen said. “Maybe the
services, reunions and other big gatherings will 20 who come get caviar and you livestream the wedding. Maybe each couple gets their own table
likely be on hold until 2021, too, say health experts.
while still being safe about it? People still want to get married.
and a really fantastic French wine. Are there ways to host those things on a much smaller scale
“If you want to have a wedding with 200 people,
you are really risking things, prevaccine,” said
Jha. “If you really, really wanted to have a wedding
that size, you’d need fabulous amounts of
testing and everyone would have to get the test
the day you arrived at the wedding. Turnaround
times would have to be that day and false negatives
on tests would have to come way down.”
Event planners are already talking to couples
and other party planners to invite small groups
of people while webcasting the event to other
guests, said Katrina Petersen, program director
of National Association for Catering &
Events Maine and an owner of a wedding venue.
While this will undoubtedly hurt the event
planning industry and disappoint couples who
had hoped for dream weddings in 2020, small
group events can become more luxurious and
potentially help venues and vendors stay afloat,
Petersen said.
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