Stop and Go
e are a few weeks into
W
2022 , and our industry is in very different states around the world . As the Omicron variant has caused record infection numbers , government and health authorities are struggling to find the right balance between keeping people safe and keeping life going at the same time .
It is a tough call to make . And it is a call that leaders everywhere have to make again and again .
I am just returning from Las Vegas , where the Consumer Technology Association did go through with organising the Consumer Electronics Show ( 7-8 January 2022 ). It welcomed more than 40,000 visitors in-person to the Las Vegas Convention and World Trade Center ( LVCC ). That is 40,000 more than 2021 , when they had to cancel the physical event , albeit of course the 2022 numbers were still down from the pre-pandemic numbers . Right afterwards ( 9-12 January ), PCMA ran its annual conference in Las Vegas , Convening Leaders , connecting more than 2,000 event professionals face to face ( or , more accurately , mask to mask ). It was the same story there : After a digital-only event in 2021 , their community was eager to re-connect face to face . Those who didn ’ t feel comfortable attending , given the Omicron wave , stayed away .
In UFI ’ s ‘ 5 trends to watch for 2022 ’, we write about this being a ‘ stop and go ’ time for show organisers , sometimes even for two show teams working closely with one another . One major German organiser had to call off international shows in Germany for January and February – while proceeding with a regional show that captures an audience from
Kai Hattendorf UFI managing director / CEO
“ We focus a lot of attention and work to make our customers , our stakeholders , and the media understand how we are bouncing back as an industry , and to let them know how important our events are , especially for small and medium enterprises .”
Germany and neighbouring countries .
One organiser in the US told me about the stress that their teams are facing , talking both to exhibitors that blame them for keeping a show on – and to those who blame them for cancelling or postponing a show .
We are an agile industry , and we rightly pride ourselves on the agility of our colleagues working in the industry . We focus a lot of attention and work to make our customers , our stakeholders , and the media understand how we are bouncing back as an industry , and to let them know how important our events are , especially for small and medium enterprises .
We have to also focus on our teams , and the daily ups and downs they go through .
This column , therefore , is dedicated to all these colleagues !
www . exhibitionworld . co . uk Issue 1 2022 9