Damilola Olaniyan is the brain behind Midasplus Eve s & Signature. She is an event planner, venue decorator and coordinator of activities as well. She has been in the event business for the past 5 years, and her passion for event planning grew because she was always happy with the planning since she was little. “I’ve always been at the forefront of celebrations, planning dances and ensuring everyone gets food, the happiness I see on their faces makes me feel happy whenever that happens,” she said.
Her brand became official when she organized the birthday of a few of her friends and they enjoyed the event with tons of accolades showered on her for the expertise, “It was that moment that I had the conviction that it was moment for the company ‘Midasplus Event & Signature’ and to learn professionally from a senior colleague in the event industry ‘Mrs Alabi Olufisayo’.
Talking in an interview with City People Magazine Damilola revealed how badly the event industry has been impacted by Covid-19.” All went fine before Covid-19 occurred.
Activities expected to take place from March to July were postponed as a result of the Coronavirus pandemic. Activities around the world were shut down by social distancing and sitting at home. The event industry, which exists to bring people together, was hit particularly hard and had so many tolls on event planners and vendors and as mass gatherings are one of the known vehicles for spreading any disease, many people will be skeptical about attending conferences, parties and events. While the timeline for virus recovery is not positive yet, this cannot be changed by the events industry.
Therefore the near future of the industry is smaller activities with a manageable public.
She further emphasizes that Covid-19’s effects on events are multiple, “there, is a downward slope of several vendors dedicated to making a small event that gathers the standard and therefore, several event vendors go out of the market.” Owing to social distance guidelines the event design is often expected to change drastically. Holding round table discussions at this stage will be next to difficult, and personal communications would be a challenge. Event preparation that was already strenuous is much worse now when it comes to keeping strict measures in place.
On the prospects of the post-lockdown event business. Damilola reveals that the event company is coming back but with new rules for events; social distancing, seeking innovative ways to register guests at the registration desk, banning self-service catering/buffet, hand-washing and sanitizing booths among others. She said “Event vendors are getting back to work particularly, event coordinators like (Ushers) to direct guests to wash hands, and to follow all the instructions laid down in a time like this but the truth is “we will miss the old normal as for a fact, social gathering rules, guidelines and controlled number of guests will still exist for a very long time to come. Eventually, virtual activities have come to live for people who don’t want major events and people even before the pandemic but it can’t be compared with when everyone can enjoy themselves without being too self-conscious. Even with the above adjustments, people would always have reservations about attending a live event so it was always a tough one on event planners but as planners, we’re more than able to adapt to the situation, aren’t we? In this time of change, in meetings and conferences, we have to push ourselves into a new environment.
Nevertheless, Damilola encouraged event planners and vendors in her words: “Do not dwell on what you can’t control and concentrate on what you can manage.
Get Creative: There’s always one alternative open. Dream of different ways you might do stuff.
Breathe, don’t let go.
Everything you do, DO NOT GIVE UP: If it seems to be hard today, embrace it and try again tomorrow.
