Technology
Rebooting face-to-face
CMW LOOKS AT HOW GRIP ENSURED ITB BERLIN’S DELEGATES COULD STILL MEET
AND DO BUSINESS DESPITE THE EVENT’S CANCELLATION
he world’s largest annual
travel trade show, ITB
Berlin, was one of the first
big event casualties of the
Covid-19 outbreak.
The event, which launched in 1966,
brings together decision-makers,
experts, buyers and professionals from
across the travel industry. With a
long wave of history on which to ride,
it prides itself on helping its attendees
build business and customer relations
through the power of face-to-face
meetings.
Known for being one of the central
dates for the global tourism calendar,
ITB Berlin is for many much more
than the four-day event with business
meetings taking place ahead of show
opening. Connecting buyers and
suppliers is paramount for organisers
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CONFERENCE & MEETINGS WORLD
Messe Berlin. Before the scale of the
crisis become apparent, they had
already appointed event tech supplier
Grip and its event matchmaking
software platform to help attendees
meet and do business.
Before finally being forced into
cancellation after confirmed cases of
the disease were reported in Berlin, in
excess of 130,000 delegates were
expected to attend.
With the imminent challenges
facing the travel industry in the wake
of the virus, Messe Berlin knew that it
was vital to connect the industry
despite not being able to meet
face-to-face. The show must go on, by
some means.
Help was at hand. In the space of
two days, Grip adapted its platform to
allow event attendees to still hold
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ISSUE 106
Below: ITB
Berlin, 2018
Photo by Christian
H, Flickr
meetings despite the event’s
cancellation.
Firstly, the plan was to support
those who had already travelled to
the city in anticipation of the event.
Grip modified its technology to
include varying locations, allowing
attendees to meet with their
colleagues, selecting alternative
locations around the city.
For those who we unable to travel
to the event in person, meetings were
still able to take place via a new
integrated virtual meeting room
technology with the Grip software
platform. The new offering gave
attendees the opportunity to hold the
pre-event scheduled meetings
virtually allowing colleagues to meet
and do business.
Around 300-500 digital meetings
took place under the ITB Berlin
banner.
Tim Groot, Grip’s CEO, was
impressed by how robust the travel
industry proved in the face of an
existential crisis. He said: “The travel
and events industry are incredibly
resilient and ITB Berlin was a unique
opportunity for us to demonstrate