Exhibition World Issue 4 — 2020 | Page 7

News CES 2021 in Las Vegas cancelled as organisers plan digital experience he Consumer Technology Association (CTA)® announced, 28 July, the cancellation of its CES® 2021 show in Las Vegas. The event, which attracts around 170,000 visitors annually, had been scheduled for 6-9 January, 2021. Now organisers say they are planning an alldigital experience instead, to keep exhibitors and customers connected. “It’s just not possible to safely convene tens of thousands of people in Las Vegas in early January 2021 to meet and do business in person,” said Gary Shapiro, president and CEO, CTA. “By shifting to an all-digital platform for 2021, we can deliver a unique experience that helps our exhibitors connect with existing and new audiences.” For 50 years, CES has provided a global stage for innovation and organisers say they plan to return to Las Vegas for CES 2022, combining the best elements of a physical and digital show. SISO postpones Summer Conference in Dallas The US-based Society of Independent Show Organisers (SISO) has postponed its annual Summer Conference due to the recent spikes in Covid-19 infections across the USA. Due to be held in Dallas in August, the event’s proposed venue, the Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center Dallas, is limiting gatherings to groups of less than 10 individuals. HKTDC’s 9 become 1 The Hong Kong Trade Development Council (HKTDC) has migrated nine physical exhibitions originally scheduled to be held by the end of July onto an online platform as part of a new strategy to deal with the effects of the coronavirus crisis. The HKTDC-organised Summer Sourcing Weeks | Go ONLINE opened 27 July and runs until 7 August. This 9-in-1 virtual tradefair attracted 1,300 exhibitors. Benjamin Chau, HKTDC deputy executive director, said: “The HKTDC has initiated various online promotions, including the Spring Virtual Expo in April and the Summer Virtual Expo in late June and July, to EN Awards set to rally industry with reaffirming ‘first’ event, 9 October ash Media, publisher of Exhibition World and sister UK publication Exhibition News (EN), has announced that the annual EN Awards will now be held on 9 October 2020 at Evolution London, from 18.30. The new date, confirmed shortly after the UK government gave the go ahead for events to take place from 1 assist SMEs and international buyers overcome the challenges during this difficult period. Now we are launching Summer Sourcing Weeks | Go ONLINE, an advanced online virtual exhibition that runs for 12 days and features the AI-enabled Click2Match business matching platform.” The one-month Summer Virtual Expo, which drew to a close on 24 July, helped 22,000 suppliers connect with buyers from around the world. From April to July, the number of buyers browsing the hktdc.com Sourcing online marketplace increased by nearly 20% to 4.2m compared to the same period in 2019. The HKTDC is providing a special subsidy of HK$5,000 for each exhibitor taking part in Summer Sourcing Weeks | Go ONLINE. Benjamin Chau, HKTDC deputy executive director October, will mean the EN Awards is set to be the first major industry event since UK lockdown began in March. Duncan Siegle, EN publishing director said: “Being one of the first events back, and certainly the first for the events industry, allows us to put on a fantastic night.” Siegle continued: “We also have a huge responsibility to make sure the event is run in a safe manner and respects the guidance. We are working very closely with Smart Venues to ensure this will be the case. We’ll be announcing some extra categories very soon that will add a little more fun to the event, as well as our plan for the evening.” Tickets are on sale at www.exhibitionnewsawards.co.uk www.exhibitionworld.co.uk Issue 4 2020 7