Welcome to Off the Beat, a weekly Q&A with a local business person doing something a little different. Have an idea or pitch that reflects some unusual business activity? Email mneibauer@bizjournals.com.
Maria Covell is the co-founder and CEO of Capital City Events, which she leads with her husband, Tim, managing events in the D.C. and Baltimore metro areas. The result of their company's pandemic pivot: Farewell Partners, a new venture that helps families celebrate lost loved ones.
How quickly did you realize that a pivot was needed once the pandemic struck? With a full schedule of client meetings and events planned for the spring market, the pandemic couldn’t have arrived at a worse time for our convention season. By the end of March, all spring events had been canceled. By the end of May, most of our clients for the fall season had canceled. By then, we began to transition to and market virtual experiences to support customers struggling with keeping their stakeholder relationships fresh and connected as the world settled into working remotely and social distancing.
How did your personal experience inform the creation of Farewell Partners? Five months before the pandemic made gathering impossible, my husband lost his brother unexpectedly in an accident. Our world was shattered. We immediately gathered as a family, receiving visitors for a week leading up to the funeral. The love of our family and friends as we joined together and the support from the community gatherings were paramount in getting us through the grieving process. As Covid-19 and government restrictions made gathering impossible, our hearts broke for those going through a similar experience. We felt we could help. Combining our personal experience, event planning expertise and knowledge of delivering meaningful virtual experiences, our goal is to assist others as they gather their community, support each other and celebrate their loved one in a meaningful way.
How does Farewell Partners help people celebrate the life of a loved one lost during the pandemic? Live streaming of funerals allows family and friends from all over the world to participate in a loved one’s final goodbye. Virtual tributes allow communities to gather safely, online, and celebrate a life well lived. Just like meeting planning, we are producing and running the virtual side of the event, admitting guests, managing music and microphones, coordinating and spotlighting speakers, photos, video memorials and graphics via video conferencing applications such as Zoom, Webex and others. These events the tell the story of a life well lived and offers family and friends a safe opportunity to come together to show their love and support. It is incredibly rewarding to know we’ve helped a family during their most difficult time.
Does Farewell Partners compete with funeral homes, or partner with them? Farewell Partners are not funeral directors. We do not compete with funeral homes, in fact we partner with them to enhance and extend the service they provide.
What do you miss the most about hosting events? I miss setting the stage. We believe a special event should be more than an opportunity to entertain guests. When done right, an evening orchestrated in a remarkable venue, warmed by candlelight, enhanced with the beauty of floral arrangements and décor, brought to life with the spark of energy that permeates the air when live entertainment surprises and delights, capped off with fabulous gourmet cuisine served flawlessly…. all combine to set the stage for an unforgettable experience that will live with guests as a lasting memory.
I miss the connections and interactions with our vendors partners, with whom we’ve been collaborating for over 25 years. I miss connecting with our clients, and the opportunities to exceed their expectations. I miss the adrenaline rush during the tight turnaround of a big set-up and the high-five with our events teams as the last guests have departed. I miss it all.
While I miss everything that comes along with in-person events, I’m fortunate we’ve been able to deliver meaningful experiences through Farewell Partners.
Has the Capital City Events business bounced back even a little bit? Yes, there is finally light at the end of the tunnel! We just confirmed our first in-person group for this May and are encouraged by the confidence the vaccine is providing our corporate clients and their attendees. Inquiries have increased for small group meetings this summer as well as RFP’s for larger meetings in Q3 and Q4 for 2021 have increased steadily. We hope 2022 brings some semblance of normalcy but it will be several years before we return to the level of business we saw in 2019.
What is the first D.C.-area party venue you’ll visit when things reopen and its safe to do so? I can’t wait to find myself on any venue loading dock in the city, awaiting the catering, rental and lighting trucks and feeling the energy of that evening’s upcoming event. I love the Library of Congress and the National Portrait Gallery for larger events, and the historic homes along Embassy Row for smaller gatherings, but each venue holds a special memory and has been home to a special experience created by Capital City Events, so I can’t wait to get to them all.
What was your first job? My first job was cleaning houses for my parent’s friends when I was 12 years old. I really wanted to work and wasn’t old enough for a “real” job and looking back now I know my parent’s friends really were doing me a favor by saying yes to my request to clean. I took my job very seriously and my mom loved it when her friends commented that they couldn’t believe I even scrubbed every single soap dish! From there I can’t remember a time that I wasn’t working. From a cashier at People’s drugstore, to the GAP, to various waitressing jobs, I worked all throughout high school and college. My first job out of college was in the corporate offices of Hecht’s Department Stores, working in the advertising department. From there I moved into Hecht’s special events department which sparked and solidified my love for events.