We have been in the news recently talking about our reopen plans which may have confused some people. How can you put 150 people in a ballroom for hours and maintain social distancing? This is a great question and the answer starts with our clients. Imagine you are getting married later this year. Now imagine you were a “June Bride” who moved to August and now second-guessing again. It creates anxiety and stress. You want grandma to see you walk down the aisle (not just because you’re her fav), but you want to keep her safe. At the right time, we feel we can reopen.
At SKY Armory we are planners at heart. Nicole’s first company (The Events Company), always put guest safety first. Just ask her to tell her stories about tents and extreme weather. As the pandemic hit Central New York on March 12, 2020, with the cancellation of the St. Patrick’s Parade, we initially coped with the immediate needs of our events and employees. Then we sat down and started planning. We used our experience and creativity and thought about the future. We realized that every industry is different but with common elements such as hygiene and personal protection equipment. We knew that at some point the economy will start to reopen and surmised that if we did not have a plan (for ourselves and our industry), then we would be at the end of the line. We prepared a plan, a template, that we felt was a good balance between providing a safe environment while providing our clients the experience they desired. The economy will slowly open. When Central New York’s restaurants begin to open (perhaps at 50% capacity), then we could be open too. All the details have not been released but it appears that would happen in Phase 3. We asked for Phase 2 designation to give our clients the assurance to commit to a date two or three months into the future giving time to send invitations and finish the final details of their celebration.
We are reaching out to other CNY venues and event planners to hear their thoughts on the template, on and to provide input Our goal is to create an industry-standard that Onondaga County (both the Health Department and Economic Development), can feel confident.
Here are links to Our Reopen Plan, an article in Syracuse.com, LocalSYR, and the CNY Business Journal.
photo credit: The Story Photography