Unique Insights #1

Unique Venues encourages knowledge sharing between event organisations and highlights good initiatives. In the series Unique Insights we take a look behind the scenes at unique venues in Amsterdam. How are they managing the challenges of organising an event under 1.5-metre social distancing conditions? Each blog an event location awards another unique location with the 'golden ticket' for an eye-catching event.

Dennis Scheffers, Sales & Event Manager at Amerpodia, kicks off the series with his organisation’s lightning tours.

The completely refurbished Felix Meritis was scheduled to be officially reopened on 20 March 2020. Dennis Scheffers says: “Following three and a half years of renovations, we were raring to go. People couldn’t wait to come and see us, but they weren’t allowed to visit physically. We had to work out how to connect with them in a different way. So we came up with lightning tours.”

Tour by drone

“We realised pretty quickly that live streaming was by far the best solution. It was relatively simple for us because as a cultural institute, we already had all the necessary technology,” explains Dennis. “So to show off our wonderful new building despite the circumstances, we chartered a drone pilot to fly through Felix Meritis while we narrated and visitors could ask questions on a chat.”

“People could register for time slots for tours of Felix Meritis, but also of De Nieuwe Liefde, Rode Hoed or the Compagnietheater. Under normal circumstances we would give tours to two or three people a day, but now there were about 60 participants! It’s easy to do remotely – I could even give a tour from Bali,” Dennis laughs.

The future is hybrid

“The concept was totally born out of necessity, but it worked well,” Dennis concludes. “In the future, hybrid concepts will be the norm anyway, partly online and partly offline. So I’m glad we have such a young team and that we were able to deal creatively with the situation. It has energised us.”

Golden ticket

It’s Dennis’ turn to pass on the golden ticket. Which unique venue in Amsterdam does he want to ask how they organised a particular event? “I’m passing the golden ticket on to De Hallen Studios. It’s a wonderful, big location, which is the ideal venue given the current measures,” Dennis answers. “I’m also curious about the pop-up stage they organised there.”