I thought I would share with everyone on this forum what I have been up to since the end of January as pretty much all my work has dried up for the rest of the year. I have started working alongside a company that among other things they have the ability to create virtual tours using a piece of hardware and software kit called Matterport. The company has only really produced home interior and business unit interior presentations for estate agents and letting agents - I pretty much realised that there would be a need for event planners and organisers to reassess some of the venues that they plan to use in the future, particularly from a new perspective of social distancing that will have to be introduced. Therefore, I have been proactive in speaking to local venues (I am based in Cardiff in the UK) about producing online virtual guides so designers, planners and organisers can instantly get to work preparing for future events as we slide ourselves slowly out of lockdown. It has been warmly received by venues as a great tool to share with their clients and now is an ideal time for us to go into empty buildings and do the filming (which is a very quick process anyway). The online tour allows you to visit any part of the building and we can annotate any parts of it - this is my involvement as I study the building and collect all the information an event planner would require (electrics, services, catering routes, spill out zones etc), I also wear my NEBOSH hat and record any health and safety information (location of ramps, fire escape routes etc). The exciting part of the virtual tour is that you can take your own accurate dimensions from the comfort of your browser - these dimensions can be taken for anywhere so the data available to the user is massive and invaluable.
We have different regulations here in Wales to the rest of the UK so from speaking to local venues they are awaiting government guidance on how social distancing will operate as we emerge out of lockdown
- I have heard that when venues in Wales do start to open in Wales they may only be able to host up to 30% of their capacity so again the online tool is valuable in helping people prepare for this.
What I am doing is getting me into venues and talking to the owners/managers so it is a great networking tool for me as I imagine I may have to look for more local work in the before more global events return. I'm also hoping that when measures are introduced for social distancing I can help venues with RAMS and the design of layouts so they can abide by these rules.
I would be interested to hear from anyone who thinks they would benefit from this or if this technology could be applied elsewhere in the events industry.
Many thanks for reading.