COVID19 Event Resources
Moving from in-person to virtual Events
Many events were forced to go virtual in 2020, and there are lessons to be learned from those Events. See the Going Virtual page for more information.
Small-Scale “Pop-Up” Events
As the COVID-19 pandemic continued for 6+ months and many schools and businesses reopened at diminished capacity, it became feasible to hold smaller events with masks required, social distancing and large rooms or outdoor venues. The Maker Faire Orlando team held a series of “Pop-Up Maker Faire Orlando” events with the following structure:
- Outdoor event in the parking lot of local makerspace
- Small number of exhibitors
- Small total attendances with timed tickets to limit the total number of attendees in the exhibit area at one time
- Masks required
- Suggested that makers rework their exhibits to put tables / displays between maker and attendee
- Limited face-to-face close contact or frequently contacted items (such as an arcade game)
- Temperature checks were planned, but the event was outdoors in direct sunlight on a very hot day, so this would have been ineffective
- Maker communication was very direct that if they were not feeling well for any reason, they should skip the event.
- Free tickets (donation requested) kept expectations low for a small-scale event
Marketing for the event clearly called out the protections in place, and feedback from makers and attendees was very positive. The first event was 10 makers, and 25 attendees per hour in a parking lot setting with one parking space between maker tents. For the second event the hourly capacity was doubled to 50 attendees per hour.
As the the Pop-Up events were being planned, Disney had 10k+ workers furloughed in the local market. A facebook group formed to share their “side hustles” - one of the Maker Faire producers was pulled into the group given the number of awesome makers in the group, which led to hosting a Pop-Up Maker Faire Orlando event featuring members of this group. This was a good way to meet our Maker Faire goals while also helping those who had their employment impacted by the pandemic.
Want more info on these Pop-Up Maker Faire Orlando events? Email makers@makerfaireorlando.com