Everyone had high expectations and held a lot of hope with the start of a New Year and the arrival of 2021. With the news of the vaccine roll out we were all hopeful that we were turning a corner and could return to some normality this year and in person events would start to come back. Then the national lockdown came in and it was easy to feel like we were back to square one….
...But as an industry we have become used to this rollercoaster and trying to roll with the punches. We are very fortunate that our clients pushed ahead with their virtual plans for January and a huge thank you goes to our fantastic clients who have trusted us to deliver such a wide range of virtual projects, across all sectors and corners of the world.
January 2021 has marked quite a milestone for the business. Last month we delivered 45 virtual events to over 50 countries, supported by 178 freelance crew and even streamed 24 hours a day for 9 consecutive days. For one week we were running 27 streaming studios to deliver projects. Our live studio has also been busy, clients have reacted to the current lockdown and reduced the number of presenters coming into our live studio, but this has added so much production value to these virtual productions.
COVID Testing
As a business we decided in late December that we needed to add another layer of protection to our staff, crew and clients. We have had very strict protocols in place to keep our business COVID secure, which also includes UVC air filtration and UVC sanitation systems. We have partnered with UKAS registered TAC healthcare group to supply us with rapid lateral flow tests. With the support of Production Manager Richard Owers and TAC we were quickly able to train and implement a robust testing system which we rolled out in early January. To date we have carried out over 350 tests. It’s been a logistical challenge, but we have been so impressed at how everyone has played their part. Whilst testing isn’t a silver bullet it has added another critical layer of protection.
If anyone wants to hear more about what we are doing in this area, we are more than happy to share our experience.
Let’s hope that this is a sign of things to come and 2021 is the year we are all hoping it will be, and that the next few months continue on this upward trajectory for everyone in our industry. There’s still a long way to go before our sector gets back up on its feet, and hopefully with the vaccine roll out we’ll start to see more hybrid and live events introduced, but for now, virtual is here to stay.
Keep up with the latest tech innovations, updates and stories from your team behind the scenes, by visiting our PSP posts page. Or to discuss your next event or to find out a little more about PSP, give us a call on 0121 486 3288 or email info@pspav.com
