WASHINGTON, DC – A group of live event industry organizations offered their venues, staff and expertise to support the speedy rollout of vaccinations to combat Covid-19. AEG, Bandit Lites, Broadway League, IATSE, IAVM, Live Nation, NAMM, NITO, NIVA, OVG, and We Make Events are all supporting the initiative.
More details:
In a letter to President Biden on Jan. 26, AEG, Bandit Lites, Broadway League, International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE), International Association of Venue Managers (IAVM), Live Nation, the National Association of Music Merchants (NAMM), the National Independent Talent Organization (NITO), the National Independent Venue Association (NIVA), Oak View Group (OVG), and We Make Events formally offered their venues, staff, and expertise to the COVID-19 vaccination effort. The live event industry is in a unique position to help – the pandemic has fully shuttered operations, leaving venues empty and the furloughed crowd-management oriented staff who operate them eager to help out and get back to work.
“Since the pandemic shuttered our industry almost a year ago, our buildings and our co-workers have been paused, unutilized, and struggling” said Dayna Frank, owner & CEO, First Avenue Productions and Board President of NIVA. “These vaccines are our best chance at putting COVID-19 behind us, and our experiences organizing events and managing crowds now put us in the unique position of being the best prepared and most qualified industry to support the vaccination effort and get this country on the road to recovery.”
“It’s human nature to come together in good times and bad, and our industry is committed to doing everything in our power to bring people together again – not just for events, but for every aspect of community that we have been missing,” said Michael Rapino, president and CEO of Live Nation Entertainment. “Live Nation has venues across the country that are capable of managing critical onsite elements of the vaccine rollout and we are eager to pitch in and be part of the solution.”
Today’s letter to President Biden says, in part:
“As you set about achieving the ambitious goal of vaccinating 100 million Americans in 100 days, we wish to offer the full support and resources of the live event industry. We share your vision of expedient, equitable, and widespread vaccine distribution. It is our duty, as businesses rooted in communities across the nation, to do our part to set America on a positive path during this time of crisis. We stand ready to work with Federal and State governments to save lives and get America back to work and school.”
Venues are specifically designed for queuing and crowd control, and are located in most urban, suburban, and rural communities – often near transit lines or with easy access to parking. The interiors are wide and clear, with bright work lights and empty standard refrigeration systems. Additionally, the inherent use of ticketing systems for advanced notification, timed entry, and crowd management in live events lends itself directly to managing this type of process.
“The entire live event industry has stood still since March, 2020.” says Bandit Lites Chair Michael T. Strickland. “We all stand united now, ready to assist in the safe, rapid delivery of the vaccine from a people moving perspective.”
“We are here to help. In fact, many venues are already working on the State and Local level to implement vaccine programs.” said Wayne Forte, NITO executive committee member and president of Entourage Talent Associates. “Our industry owns, leases and/or has access to thousands of venues throughout America, most that are under mandated closures and sitting empty. Event venues make ideal community vaccination sites.”
For a PDF action plan, CLICK HERE.
For a related letter sent to Biden from IATSE on Jan. 25, CLICK HERE.
More details from Bandit Lites:
COV-AID: Live Events Rolling out COVID-19 Vaccines
NASHVILLE – The Live Events industry is thrilled to announce the launch of COV-AID, an effort to assist with increasing the speed and efficiency of vaccine inoculations for COVID-19 in the United States. In a letter sent to President Biden January 26th, industry giants formally offered their venues, staff, and expertise to the COVID-19 vaccination effort.
The Live Event Industry is one of the best prepared, best equipment, and most experienced industries in the world to manage and control large crowds in a rapid fashion. Moving people swiftly and safely is one of the cornerstones of the foundation of the Live Event Industry.
The COV-AID Leadership Team is connected with the Biden Transition Team, the HHS, the White House Coronavirus Response Coordinator, the National Governors Association and several Senators and Representatives across the nation. The COV-AID Leadership Team includes leaders from across the industry including Bandit Lites, Live Nation, AEG, C3 Presents, Red Light Management and the many organizations that have worked for the industry in the past months.
Using the infrastructure already in place from We Make Events North American network, regions will help identify a venue or multiple venues as potential sites for inoculation. Local health and medical officials will work with Live Event people to design the set up for each area. The Live Event teams will execute the physical set up and provide needed infrastructure from local production firms. The local Live Event staff in each market will serve as labor (directing and coordinating ‘people traffic’) each day while the local medical staff handle all the actual medical details.
“The millions of people in the Live Event Industry stand ready to assist the White House, the HHS and the medical community to deal with the logistics of people flow,” said Bandit Lites Chair, Michael T. Strickland. “This will free up medical staff that are currently not able to assist with giving shots. This alone will be a huge win and increase the number of vaccines given.”
There is an expected supply surge of vaccines in mid to late February as Pfizer, Moderna and Johnson & Johnson should all make such available. The AstraZeneca solution is thought to be close after that.
A coordinated effort by the medical teams with the Live Events Industry will assure the fastest, safest delivery of vaccine inoculations in the U.S. by managing large crowds in a manner which the Live Event Industry do, virtually every day!
