Had circumstances been different, the host committee for MPI’s World Education Congress (WEC) Vegas—June 15-17, 2021—would have had plenty of experience preparing for the event at the new CAESARS FORUM in Las Vegas.

Circumstances, as we know, have been quite challenging due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Take CAESARS FORUM. The plan had been for a grand opening last March for the US$375 million, 550,000-square-foot conference center, a celebration that had to be called off at the last minute as the pandemic brought the meeting industry to a halt.

Then there was WEC 2020, originally scheduled for last June in Grapevine, Texas. The pandemic would alter that event, as well.

But while the pandemic continues to cause havoc around the world, both Caesars Entertainment and MPI have found ways to show that face-to-face meetings can be held safely.

For MPI, the association moved its event to November and successfully and safely welcomed 600 paid attendees to the Gaylord Texan Resort and Convention Center.

No matter the event size, duty of care for attendees will be a top priority at WEC Vegas.

The team at CAESARS FORUM has now hosted two events—130 partners and associates for ConferenceDirect’s Annual Partner Meeting (APM) in October and 50 meeting professionals for a PCMA Convening Leaders 2021 satellite event in January (pictured). The experience from those two events has helped the Caesars Entertainment team of Reina Herschdorfer, director of marketing, national meetings and events, and Stephanie Byrd, marketing specialist, understand the complexities of planning events during a pandemic. The two will be leading the WEC Vegas host committee.

“I have learned that we can plan for months in advance and that it’s much easier to have a lot of time to plan,” Herschdorfer says. “But we’ve learned that even with a short amount of time, we can still plan a great event. We just make decisions much quicker and move faster. Even though it is stressful, you can do it. Surround yourself with a good team so that together you can do anything.”

One of the challenges for Herschdorfer in planning WEC Vegas: the current restrictions in Nevada on the size of group gatherings. Prior to the holidays, the state was allowing in-person gatherings of up to 1,000 people (which would mean 250 people per room in the massive CAESARS FORUM), but as a result of a spike in COVID-19 cases, Nevada Gov. Steve Sisolak limited gatherings to 50 people for indoor meetings. Fortunately, COVID-19 cases are now declining, and if they continue to decline, gatherings of up to 250 individuals or 50 percent of the fire code, whichever is less, will be allowable beginning March 15.

But gathering restrictions have not stopped either MPI or Caesars Entertainment from building plans for WEC Vegas, which will again be a hybrid event.

Herschdorfer and her team used the APM and PCMA events to understand how to create a robust educational experience while keeping attendees safe.

In addition to following established protocols for social distancing, wearing masks and temperature checks upon entering the facility, the planning team during the PCMA event even studied walking traffic patterns within CAESARS FORUM to ensure proper spacing for the 50 people allowed in the building. Social distancing was also factored in for entertainment segments featuring Las Vegas headliners the Tenors of Rock and Daniel Emmet.

WEC Vegas, June 15-17: Make your future.

“The logistics of planning for this group was quite complex,” Herschdorfer says. “We had to come up with a lot of creative solutions. There were lots of changes along the way and we had to be very flexible to accommodate all the protocols, including those at our offsite locations. For Daniel Emmet, we could not have everyone in the theater at the same time, as the maximum number of guests was 50, so we decided to do them on different nights.

“We split many of the evening events. We even had to consider space limitations on the transportation and had up to eight 26-seater vehicles, more than double during typical times.”

The group for the PCMA event expanded to about 75 including guests and staff for offsite experiences, including food and beverage, while visiting local venues such as the Neon Museum, the Mob Museum and the newly opened Circa Hotel and Allegiant Stadium, home of the NFL’s Las Vegas Raiders. Some of the experiences were split into different days, with part of the group going one night, the other group going a second night.

All of this experience will help in planning WEC Vegas, no matter the size, as duty of care for attendees will be a top priority.

The Caesars Entertainment team was also able to work out the kinks of the new building. Derrod McKinney, director of catering and convention services at CAESARS FORUM, noted that he would like to see “more energy when people are walking into the building and selecting music that sets the tone, the moment you walk in. It’s a massive building with a residential feel and it’s very impressive.”

“When you’re dealing with all the enhanced protocols and transportation issues, it works your brain in a different way.”

Bill Dosch, executive director of catering, conventions and events at the CAESARS FORUM, used the event to focus on the food and beverage experience.

“We kept the food portions smaller—bite-size restaurant quality,” he says. “We’ve learned that attendees want to taste a wider variety of food and not just fill their plate. We concentrated on the packaging to make it attractive and visible to be able to see through.”

There was a focus on the menu, with items such as roasted free-range chicken, grilled butternut squash steak, fresh seasonal cut fruit and berry plates and a maple doughnut breakfast sandwich. A boxed lunch included oven-roasted turkey sandwiches with sweet peppers, grilled mushrooms, baby Gem lettuce and Boursin cheese spread or marinated vine ripe tomatoes, burrata spread or grilled pesto zucchini on panini bread for vegetarians.

Dosch was able to bring in about 50 team members to support the event, which included sanitation protocols.

“We’ve always had to do this, but with the restrictions and health protocols, we have to think everything through,” Herschdorfer says. “We spent a lot of time on details and then thinking things through even more. We wanted to make everyone felt comfortable with traveling again and we also had to make sure the content was rich and worthy.”

Byrd learned about the importance of having flexibility.

“You have to stay nimble,” she says of planning meetings in the current environment. “When you’re dealing with all the enhanced protocols and transportation issues, it works your brain in a different way.”