Corona Virus cancellations

[Pete Cofrancesco]

I got my first cancellation for a musical the other day. The likelihood that all my events could meet with the same demise is growing more likely with each passing day.

How is everyone else's prospects? I thought about offering clients to film their event without an audience and sell videos like I normally would. I also thought about streaming it. I know there are other people who do streaming for weddings. Would it be hard or expensive to stream if the school provides the internet and how does one monetize streaming?

Both the video sales and streaming might not be a viable option if the show producers can't afford to pay for the venue without ticket sales...

[Danny O'Neill]

Were drafting our plan and policies.

Most of our work is weddings and what happens depends on what the government policy is. Most likely banning gatherings of 100 or more. Which means weddings can still go ahead just a little smaller.

Thankfully we turned down some italian weddings as we didn't know how Brexit was going to play out.

If a wedding is cancelled it will most likely just move to another date. Ideally in the same financial year otherwise it takes a date away from next years availability (or most likely 2022).

If they cancel because they choose to not hold the event then they are entitled to nothing back. If its a flat out government forcing venues to close then we will most likely offer a full refund but will push them to just select another date.

Any shutdown is likely only going to be for 4 weeks or less. But with the current pace then in the UK that will occur in July/August time, just in time for peak season.

The great thing about weddings is they will still happen, just not at a time which financially would benefit us.

I see the most likely reason for cancellations is that bride/groom/critical member of the family gets sick. But then the same could apply if you get flu on your wedding day.

The virus isnt going to cancel much, just delay it or move it. Weddings will still happen, concerts will all still happen, just not when they planned them to.

Good news, China is now reporting single digit daily cases.

[Paul R Johnson]

My daughter works at a UK largish hotel - weddings, christening and even funerals cancelling like mad. Music tours and performing arts tours cancelling quickly, and frankly - even though I usually don't worry, I've been buying equipment for the summer contracts and if they cancel, I'm stuck - badly stuck, because I've bought the equipment knowing a sizeable amount gets recovered quickly and I have to eat!

Video work in the pipeline worries me as my work is all linked to audiences, and they're now talking about banning events of over 100 people indoors. I have lots of school shows booked in May, and now they are talking about closing the schools - so bringing them all together for a show is risky!

I suspect that I'm going to be in severe difficulties if more events cancel. I'm self-employed and we get nothing from the Government if we cease work. I'm probably looking at using my pension fund to live. Grim prospect. I'm also in tribute band that mostly do corporate and outside event shows - Lost the entire years work bar 3, and these are not safe. It's going to get really bad.

[Ryan Elder]

Are you saying that the people having the wedding, canceled, or the government forced to shut them down?

[Paul R Johnson]

Yes Ryan - they're cancelling the weddings! Here it's starting to get mad - toilet rolls in supermarkets being panic bought. An idiot on national TV mentioned carbohydrates are important so pasta is a good source - this afternoon, Facebook full of empty shelves in the shops. Handwash, painkillers, disinfectant all sold out. Just a joke gone wrong!

[Oren Arieli]

I cover mostly corporate events, and had three big cancellations for this month (so far). That's a serious downer for me. It comes on the heels of an announcement from the largest tech employers in the state that employees are being encouraged to work from home.
The only positive aspect of this is that rush hour traffic is pretty much pre-2001 levels now.

[Andrew Smith]

It's gotta be a boon for video streaming. For those of us with the gear, we should be able to sell it easily.

Andrew

[Pete Cofrancesco]

I was thinking, much does it cost to professionally stream to hundreds of people and be able to monetize it? At minimum one would need a hardware encoder and host service. Then can the event holder afford to rent the theater without ticket sales and would they be legally allowed to stream copyright material?

[Andrew Smith]

You can always use a unlisted YouTube video as your stream destination, scaling up without you having to put effort into it. That's what I do, depending on the details.

As for monetisation, you get the client to pay for it up front as part of your service package. I'm thinking corporate info dissemination rather than school concerts.

Andrew

[Josh Bass]

Is it considered panic buying if youre doing it cause youre worried the other panic buyers are going to deplete the stores for the next several weeks?

[Pete Cofrancesco]

Originally Posted by Josh Bass

Is it considered panic buying if youre doing it cause youre worried the other panic buyers are going to deplete the stores for the next several weeks?

I just got back from the grocery store and had the same thought. I like to only buy what I need for 3-4 days. But every time I stop by things are getting worse. First people were binging hand soap now its food. Today I stopped by thinking i’d like burgers for a Friday dinner... all the meat was sold out. There no pasta!

[Josh Bass]

I think pork is the secret, friend. It's the black sheep of white meats. There was quite a bit left where I just was.

[Boyd Ostroff]

In my area (Southern New Jersey), I have not seen any shortages or panic buying at the two Shoprite stores I use. I go early in the morning, so there are no crowds, but there are some people with very full shopping carts. I have stocked up, but not excessively, and only with items that I would normally buy every time I go to the store.

[Paul R Johnson]

Our Prime Minister was on TV - he said that sadly many of us would lose loved ones - very true, but the statistics are being shouted out as terrible, but historically - the mortality rate is very low. The people at risk are the same group of people who would suffer from a normal flu outbreak - which we immunise against for obvious reasons. This one, with no vaccine is bad, but a new strain or flu that was unresponsive to the old vaccine would have a higher mortality rate. It's very difficult to be objective, but at hospitals here in the UK - NOBODY on staff is routinely wearing masks, visitors are still coming into the wards where the vulnerable are. Sure - it's spreading world wide, but all the previous ones did exactly the same thing, but response to this one has been understandable, but extreme.


The media hype has made people panic.

[Danny O'Neill]

We created a page for our concerned brides. Within 5 minutes of Boris's speech we had emails and phone calls from people asking if they can re-schedule their wedding (to a yet unknown date), people asking if we are going bust (dont think so, do they know something we dont?), how are we going to cope if we get sick (from what I can tell the symptoms for someone my age are actually very mild).

So put this out https://www.mintyslippers.com/covid-...avirus-update/