Update: We’ve created Eventbrite’s COVID-19 Safety Playbook for Events. Click here to read the guide.

The novel coronavirus (COVID-19) is likely top of mind as you’re thinking about your events. We stand with you and are here to support your needs to ensure you, and your attendees, are well prepared and safe in gathering at an event. 

We are closely monitoring the official guidance from health authorities, local governments, and the World Health Organization in order to support the health and wellbeing of our global community. 

While this can be a challenging situation to navigate, we are here to provide support and recommendations for how to move ahead with your event, and effectively communicate with your attendees. 

Tips for staying informed

Staying informed about the coronavirus impacting various parts of the world is vital to ensuring the safety of you, your team, and attendees. 

In addition to your local public health officials and local authorities, follow these resources: 

• World Health Organization (WHO)
• Health Service Executive (HSE)

Tips for preparing for a safer event

As you continue to move forward with hosting your event in-person, here are a few recommendations on how you can prepare for event safety: 

1. Follow precautions: Monitor trusted sources and follow these best practices from WHO to maximise the wellbeing of you, your team, and attendees and to deliver a successful event. For more precautions and details, read the WHO site.
2. Review your agenda: Evaluate if there are opportunities to reduce the risk of transferring illnesses. If, for example, you’re hosting a networking event, you’ll want to skip encouraging attendees to shake hands or high-five one another. 
3. Communicate with your attendees, often: Let your attendees know that your event is still on and outline the precautions you will be taking at the event. This could include recommendations such as discouraging handshakes (stick with smiles and waves), staying home if you feel unwell, and washing your hands often and for 20 seconds. Encourage the use of hand sanitiser at every opportunity. 

Tips for moving your event online

Some types of in-person events can work just as well virtually, in the form of an online event.

Over 100,000 online-only events were hosted on Eventbrite in 2019, with a variety of topics including work/life balance webinars, real estate livestreams, and online training courses for court interpreters. 

To host an event online, you will want to decide which digital format will work best for your event. For example, you can use a webinar if you have content or slides you want to share with your attendees, or a livestream for events with a larger audience. It’s then fairly simple to set up your virtual event on Eventbrite. 

We’ve outlined step-by-step instructions for setting up an online event here. If you’ve decided to host a webinar, this article will help you set up your event with webinar access using tools like Zoom. You can also use Eventbrite’s Digital Links feature, which makes it easy for your attendees to access virtual content and materials related to your event. 

Tips for postponing your event

If you’ve made the difficult decision to postpone your event, some tips on how to do it gracefully while continuing to put your attendees first.

• Be sure to have a replacement date and venue in place to spread the word
• Offer to transfer attendees’ spots to the new event
• Offer a refund as well, as your new event date or location may not work for everyone

If your event is on Eventbrite, follow the steps in this Help Center article to postpone and reschedule your event.

We’re in this together

As a community of event creators, our top priority during this time is to support your needs. As the situation evolves, Eventbrite will provide additional resources and support. If you have any other questions related to your events and the novel coronavirus (COVID-19), visit this page for more information.