An event is a planned public or social occasion occurring outside of your regular activities, usual space or hours.
Hosting Events at CapU during COVID-19
This historic pandemic has changed how we operate in the world and one of the most profound effects has been on events.
We have to find new and innovative ways to engage people and give them incentive to participate.
For now, there is no need to fill out the event information form that you use to complete. In the interim, please make sure you have completed the capilano university events calendar form so that your event gets put in the calendar.
Safety procedures
All events need to have their safety plan approved by University Events and Occupational Health & Safety. This process requires two weeks' notice.
It is important in today’s world to ensure that your guests feel safe while also being able to enjoy an in-person experience.
When sending out your invitations, set expectations about what precautions the event will be taking around attendee safety and also mention these precautions at the beginning of the event program.
Ensure that there are hand sanitizers at each station, be it food, sign in or swag pick-up. Everywhere people touch something, there should be hand sanitizer – sani station at each entrance. You can also consider giving out branded hand sanitizer bottles and branded masks.
Have your guests sign in with their names, email and phone number for contact tracing. Either provide them with branded pens as a gift, or have "clean pens" and "used pens’ containers out.
You can have no more than 50 guests at an in-person event, which also means that you need to be in a space that will accommodate 50 people at 2metres of space between people.
On campus, we are restricted by hallway space and washroom accommodations, therefore, there is no space on campus that can accommodate more than 15 people for a live event.
Provide directional arrows on the floor so people know the path to follow for coming into the event and leaving the event. Try to ensure that people are not coming in the same door as people who are leaving, if possible.
Ensure that there is appropriate airflow. Avoid rooms that are windowless. If possible, have windows and doors open to allow for free flow of air.
Catering
Chartwells still has first right of refusal for catering services on campus.
Best practices for the industry currently include having servers wearing face coverings and passing food to guests. You can hire professional, trained serving staff from companies such as NASCO.
Chef activation stations are much safer than self-serve stations and are generally very popular, as self-serve, buffet type stations are not an option at this time.
Consider the food that you serve. Avoid serving food that people would be tempted to lick their fingers after and ensure you orovide napkins at each station.
Where possible, provide individual meals, either delivered by servers, or pre-packaged in boxes. Try to keep sustainability in mind when preparing these pre-packaged boxes. Instead of self-serve coffee/drink station, have the coffee served for each individual.
Seating
Remembering that each guest needs to remain 2 metres apart, large round tables of 6 ft will only accommodate 4 people unless they belong to the same household. Tables must be set up so that there is 10 feet between the tables.
Consider table configurations that allow more people to interact but still provide space. Use this mindset when placing high top tables to allow enough distance between each table.
Keep in mind however that you can have no more than 6 people per table and that guests are not allowed to table hop.
Lectures
If you are hosting a lecture, setting up theatre style can still be accomplished ensuring that seats are 2 metres apart. There should also be 2 metres between each row. Aisles between sections should be 4 metres apart. You may also want to consider a semi circle approach rather than the traditional row.
If it’s helpful, place stickers on the floor where the chairs should be so that they can easily be placed back in the correct spot if moved.
Virtual events
While many of us spend our entire workdays facing a screen, it is important that if you are hosting a virtual event, you make it as interactive as possible.
Try and make your events more than simple screen-sharing presentations and include elements that will make your attendees feel like they are part of the event.
A few suggestions include:
- Sending guests food to enjoy during the event
- Having interactive games
- Running polls
- Running Q&A’s
- Having a theme
- Teach your guests something useful, such as cooking or making cocktails, with a list of ingredients that they would require ahead of time.
Which virtual event platform do I use?
When hosting a virtual event, there are many platforms to choose from. Be sure you understand the capabilities of each before you commit.
These are the platforms supported by Capilano University:
If you would like some guidance as to which platform would be best for your event, please feel free to contact University Events.