Plandemic: Best Practices for Planning A Celebration in A Year of Uncertainty

Making the call – Historically, the planning of MPI-CAC’s Annual Holiday Party begins in July, with fresh eyes and an eager committee to hit the ground running. The clear end goal in sight: to provide an exceptional networking opportunity during the celebration of the holiday season to close out the year with industry friends, partners & colleagues.  

It is of no surprise that all of 2020 lied in uncertainty for our beloved industry and beyond. Would we be moving to Phase 2 of the Illinois Re-opening Plan? How many guests would be able to gather in-person come December? How will the rules, regulations & best practices change from June until December? Nobody knew.

All these questions (with no clear answers) weighed heavily on our minds. Not to mention, many of us volunteers on the Holiday Party Committee were each also personally dealing with the challenges of job security; or a loved one conflicted with this horrible virus.

Our committee agreed that trying to plan anything in-person was nearly impossible, and that the idea of a hybrid event presented similar challenges for an event that was slated to take place in 5 months. The choice to go virtual was clear.

This provided an opportunity for each committee member to be heard by presenting their ideas, brainstorming themes and asking ourselves “Does this work for our essentially brand-new virtual event this year?”

                Building the frame – Now that we had fostered a culture of openness and creativity, it was imperative that we thought through each detail before presenting our ideas to the MPI-CAC Board of Directors for insight. We outlined the benefits of a virtual event, created a design deck to showcase the beautiful holiday aesthetic of the overall event, provided ideas about the event date and agenda, and carried through the focuses and traditions of previous holiday parties to create something our guests would enjoy.

                Meeting our guests where they are – A Motion was presented, and the Board of Directors unanimously decided to grant approval for the first-ever MPI-CAC Virtual Holiday Party. Our committee was really gaining momentum and bonding ever more at this time; however, we knew how much work was still ahead of us. We had to ask ourselves…How do we provide an opportunity of value and creativity to help meet the needs & wishes of all our treasured Members who have been struggling with the same uncertainty?  

We adjusted the date to January 21, 2021 to allow attendees to shrug off the Zoom fatigue that had become commonplace before a winter break. We lowered the ticket price of the event to enhance the accessibility for an industry that has been hit so hard by this pandemic, and we built the structure of the event around a “choose your own adventure” format so that guests could choose what holiday activities they would like to participate in.

                Calling for backup – With so much to be done, we needed help. We placed the call, and it was generously answered by several volunteers from other event committees who cheerfully offered to assist us. The new energy they brought to the team brought us to the home stretch!

Please join us on TOMORROW from 6-7:30p for the MPI-CAC Virtual Holiday Party: “A Celebration of Hope.”

Jonathan Zani, BlackOak Technical Productions

About the Author: Jonathan Zani is a 1st Year board member of the MPI Chicago Area Chapter and the Director of the MPI Holiday Party. He has worked as a Sales Manager through 2020, pivoting a business to provide services for large-scale virtual events and conferences.