What will happen with media and print industry conferences and
fairs in the future? Will
organizers bring in-person back after the knee-capping to the industry
delivered by coronavirus? Will companies budget to send their people to the
events? We can only hope.
A good guess is that
post-pandemic, the events will re-emerge as permanent hybrids of
in-person/digital.
Many of us have fond memories
of conferences, where we met others in the industry, made connections and maybe
struck a deal or laid the groundwork. For some, the conferences represent a fun
journey and a chance to scrap around a
Since the advent of COVID-19,
we’ve seen major conferences such as the America East News Media Summit, the
Key Executives MegaConference and drupa be canceled, postponed or up in the
air.
Innumerable other events took
hits, such as the Facebook/ONA/ Knight Foundation conference on local news
(postponed), Midwest Journalism Conference (canceled until 2021), and the big
NAB Show from the National Association of Broadcasters (canceled until 2021).
Many, including the NAB Show
and drupa, are offering all digital events, which serve as valuable outreach,
but are no substitute for in-person gatherings.
All in Print China,
co-organized by Messe Dusseldorf (
We asked a few key people for
their view on the events’ future.
Sabine Geldermann, director drupa and global head print
technologies at Messe Dusseldorf, organizer of drupa:
“The pandemic will most
certainly leave its lasting mark on the trade fair industry. The trade fair
format of the future will therefore be a hybrid one, linking digital offerings
with a live event.
ybrid one, linking digital
offerings with a live event. I don't expect purely digital formats to persist
in the long term. Fairs like drupa represent an indispensable platform for
industry participants, providing orientation, impetus and, above all,
satisfying the demand for face-to-face meetings and experiences to a high degree.
It is all about human needs, haptic experiences and running machines that
fascinate participants and which definitely cannot be fulfilled at this point
by digital media.
What distinguishes leading
world trade fairs such as drupa is the concentrated energy that arises from the
selective gathering of many people; the personal and emotional exchange; the
joint presence of decision-makers, multipliers and idea providers; lively
discussions; presentations that set the pace; chance encounters; opportunities
to acquire new customers; recruiting options ...
In the future, it will be
important to combine the advantages of both formats — digital and live — to
create a strong and successful trade fair. This is why we offer an extended
online service for our exhibitors and visitors on preview.drupa.com and are turning drupa
2021 itself into a hybrid trade fair.”
Zeddie Neidig, manager, meetings and events,
“We might have a few more
answers for you within the next couple of weeks. We have moved our typical
March/April date to September of 2021 and we have re-located the event to the
NAB: (from
its website)
“First, we are exploring a
number of ways to bring the industry together online, both in the short and
long term. We know from many years of serving the community with face-to-face
events, that connectivity is vital to the health and success of the industry.
That’s why we are excited to announce NAB Show Express, targeted to launch in
April 2020. This digital experience will provide a conduit for our exhibitors
to share product information, announcements and demos, as well as deliver
educational content from the original selection of programming slated for the
live show in Las Vegas, and create opportunities for the community to interact
virtually — all of which adds up to something that brings the NAB Show
community together in a new way.”
LMA held four annual
conferences and is a host, along with
“We probably won't do Mega as
a as a virtual event. The beauty of Mega is the networking and the trade show,”
says Lane.
Lane is feeling the pain of
the temporary loss of the events. “We were constantly on the road at
conferences and it was our lifeblood,” she says. “So it hurts.”
Indeed.
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