The OPTIZMO™ Blog

News and tips from the industry leaders in email compliance.

By Tom Wozniak, Head of Marketing – published on Business2Community.com on 2/4/21

Recently, I was able to travel to my first industry conference since January 2020. The digital and performance marketing industries have largely shifted to virtual conferences since that time. On March 21, Lead Generation World kicked off the opening night of a multi-day conference in Orlando FL. Since returning from the event, I have had numerous people ask me about the in-person event logistics in the current climate. So, I thought I would write an article to share my experiences and potentially help anyone who has opportunities to attend in-person industry events in the upcoming weeks/months.

Travel

Living in Colorado, a trip to a conference in Orlando involved a 3.5-hour flight to Florida. My flight was scheduled to leave Denver mid-morning on Saturday, so when I arrived at the airport it was comparatively empty. The benefit was a quick check-in process with the airline, a fast trip through security (even now, having TSA Pre is well worth the trouble), and then on to a relatively empty terminal and gate area. It did fill up as we approached boarding time since the flight was full.

Some airlines are still flying with empty middle seats, while others have no restrictions. So, be prepared to be physically closer to strangers than you have been for the past year. Boarding processes have also changed. Boarding by section process has changed to boarding by rows from the back of the plane to the front (with business and first-class largely being able to board when they choose). Exiting the plane was effectively the same process in reverse, where they call out rows to get up and exit the airplane, starting with the front and moving back.

I didn’t notice a single person not wearing a mask, unless they were sitting down at a restaurant or taking a drink, eating a snack, etc. People were fairly courteous and perhaps more aware of not crowding other folks than normal. The airline crews were also very friendly and did a good job of reminding people of things like not letting a mask slip down off their noses, without anything getting confrontational. So, the flights were quite smooth, even if having that many people in an enclosed space for several hours felt a bit strange.

Read the rest at Business2Community.com.

Tom Wozniak heads up Marketing and Communications for OPTIZMO Technologies.

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