From the Miss Mississippi Competition to the Ritz on the River, the Vicksburg Convention Center plays host to a wide range of well-attended events.

The facility offers space, functionality and cutting-edge technology, which has served as an asset to the economic growth of Vicksburg.

But during the COVID-19 pandemic, many are hesitant to return to normalcy, which has made planning for the future reopening of the Vicksburg Convention Center challenging.

So, in an effort to continue providing a service to the community, and doing so in a safe environment, the staff of the Vicksburg Convention Center is conducting a survey to get feedback from the public its serves.

Earlier this week, staff with the convention center sent out emails asking residents and partners to complete a survey that will remain open until Thursday. The survey can be found at www.venuworkspresents.com/fansurveyvicksburg.

Vicksburg Convention Center Executive Director Annette Kirklin said the survey was the result of ongoing conversations with the company that manages the convention enter, VenuWorks.

“Through our weekly conference calls, we felt it was time to get a consensus of the feelings of the public about returning to events,” Kirklin said. “This survey is corporate-wide but is unique to each venue managed by VenuWorks.  Therefore the questions were designed by the VCC and geared toward our community.”

Survey questions include feedback on wearing a mask, temperature screenings and social distancing.

“The goal is to gain an in-depth understanding of our community’s feelings and work with their comfort levels and answers will assist as we continue going beyond expectations to help create a comfortableness to the new normal,” Kirklin said.

As a member of the International Association of Venue Managers, Kirklin said she believed surveys will become a standard as everyone across the country tests the waters of their community.

“We plan to take every answer and response into consideration, along with all the guidelines that are being handed down to us from Gov. [Tate] Reeves, Mayor [George] Flaggs and the Center for Disease Control,” Kirklin said. “We are also using checklists handed down from corporate to make opening the doors as seamless as possible.”

Kirklin said she is hoping for feedback from “at least 200 or more people” so they can use these opinions as a guide to opening the doors with the public’s feelings in mind.

“We can’t stress how important it is to hear from as many individuals as possible,” Kirklin said.  “That way they can feel they are a part of what we are implementing to reopen. We are anxious to see visitors come through our doors.”

As of Friday, the survey had been filled out by nearly 100 area residents.

“We want to take the steps necessary to ensure customers feel safe re-engaging with our services,” Kirklin said. “We’re committed to keeping our finger on the pulse of the evolving consumer sentiment. It is vital we have the freshest insights to help guide our community/customers and also know that their views may change week to week.”