The Golf Inc. Summit will return in a Oct. 26-28th as a live event for the first time in two years, but with safety precautions in place to ensure the safety of all attendees.
“We’re excited to be back with a live event and great networking,” said Jack Crittenden, President and Editor in Chief of Golf Inc. “But we are very aware of the need to be safe.”
COVID-19 — specifically the delta variant — remains a concern and increased the number of sick people during the late summer. However, the number of cases in La Quinta, Calif., where the Summit is being held, never reached significant numbers and are currently dropping.
Crittenden Partners, the parent company of Golf Inc., has held three live events in 2021, with two in late September in Miami.
“We learned a lot from those two events in Miami,” said Lance Ellis, Director of Conferences for Crittenden Partners. “The number of cases in Florida were the highest in the nation and one of the events was for a very risk averse audience — medical insurance professionals.”
The company considered a vaccine mandate for that event but was precluded from requiring it due to state law. Instead, the company recommended that attendees take the vaccine prior to the event.
“It is the same with the Golf Inc. Summit,” Ellis said. “We recommend that attendees be vaccinated, but we are spacing the rooms, exhibit hall and other areas so that attendees can socially distance if that is important to them.”
The hotel staff at the La Quinta resort will be wearing masks, and masks will be available at registration. Registration staff will also offer temperature checks on a voluntary basis, and hand sanitizer will be available at multiple locations throughout the event.
Furthermore, every speaker will have their own microphone, which will be sanitized between each use. All hard surfaces will also be sanitized. Finally, in lieu of drinking fountains, which can be a potential vector for the spread of the virus, Crittenden will provide water bottles at multiple locations free of charge.
“We have purposefully spaced things out and will limit the number of attendees onsite,” Ellis said. “However, distancing may not be possible at every location at the Summit. So, we ask attendees to use their best judgement.”
The Summit, which usually attracts 300 to 350 attendees, is capped at 275 for this year. The city of La Quinta and the State of California currently have no restrictions in place for live events of this size.
Click here to visit the Golf Inc. Strategies Summit website.