Exhibition and Trade Shows Back with a Bang in a Post-Pandemic World

As the pandemic loosens its grip, the trade show and exhibition industry is staging a solid comeback.

Sifting through the huge influx of emails sitting in my inbox inviting me to sign up for a trade show in my neighborhood, I am starting to think if trade shows and exhibitions already are returning to normal.

COVID-19 Played Spoilsport

The pandemic threw sand in the gears of the events industry and, as a result, a number of marquee events across the country had to be pushed back indefinitely or canceled over safety concerns. Pandemic induced cancellations, postponements and eleventh-hour reductions in exhibitors and visitors posed a nagging issue to many organisers in the past two years or so.

If that wasn’t bad, it was incredibly tough for many leading organisers to run shows at different alert levels following the criteria laid down by local authorities. Not to mention the need to put in place a comprehensive safety plan with measures, including social distancing, use of PPE, effective contact tracing etc. The whole industry was forced to evolve digitally, and the organisers had to consider quickly moving their exhibitions to a digital space.

The pivot to virtual experiences through online conferences and webinars did fill the void to a certain extent but the results left a lot to be desired. Lack of face-to-face contact meant attendee engagement suffered massively and the organisers were already looking forward to when social distancing norms will be less severe.

Thankfully, things are looking up now though. The short-term prospects of mass gathering are not clouded anymore and the pandemic has let up in a big way, meaning the events sector can return to a semblance of normalcy– finally.

In-Person Trade Shows are Here to Stay

Sure, the industry was forced to think out of the box and innovate to keep the show running, but the traditionalists still continue to put what is most crucial at the forefront: the in-person experience. There’s something incredibly powerful about physically experiencing a product or service, having a chat with someone face to face.

The energy and electrifying atmosphere of an in-person trade show is palpable and cannot be recreated online. Walking into a booth and checking out a product in person is always going to be a lot more impactful and mind-blowing for the consumer than watching a video over a webinar or a digital conference. That’s precisely why trade shows will continue to flourish. That’s exactly why it still makes a lot of business sense to book a stand at a show and make a lasting impression on the customers walking in.

Got a trade show coming up soon? Perhaps you need to put together a stand but just don’t have the time or the resources to get it up. Talk to the best Exhibition Company in Sydney today about your requirements and see how they can help with setting up your Exhibition Stands on time and within budget. They’ve got a highly experienced team of creative professionals committed to working closely with clients and providing innovative solutions to create the right atmosphere for their events.

Events Starting to Roll Out, But…

Trade shows in person are back in favor and organisers are excited for the shows to restart and the crowds to return.

Having seen their revenues evaporate due to COVID-19, the executives behind some of the biggest trade shows and exhibitions in Australia are hoping shows will be able to go ahead seamlessly in the post pandemic world.

Reports suggest that the roll out of events- both small and large- continues strongly across the nation. Huge turnouts at entertainment-focused events like the Australian Grand Prix is a strong indication that visitors are overly enthusiastic about returning to shows. That said, the number of trade shows happening per day is relatively low compared to pre-pandemic days.

It is important to note that the type of events also determines the turnout. For instance, a plastic industry trade show might not command the same level of interest as say the Sydney Royal Easter Show or a F1 event where entertainment takes center stage.

While organisers and exhibitors are working closely to bring events back on the fray, the level of attendance is still a cause of concern. The pent-up demand from small businesses to meet with their partners and vendors and do business face-face could be seen in the strong attendance numbers of certain trade shows but it’s not the case across the board. Some events are seeing lower levels of attendance to those pre-pandemic. It still remains unclear whether attendees will continue to venture out and attend shows just like they did before the pandemic struck.

From what we could gather from recent events, attendance, for now, is, as you might have guessed, more localised. And it’s not surprising one-bit given international travel is not as seamless as it was before.

Blending Face-to-Face with Virtual Experiences Holds Key

The pandemic has changed the very fabric of how things revolved in the exhibitions and trade show industry. But in-person trade shows are not diminishing in importance. Just like the small businesses that support it, the industry is now veering towards a new path; to a new normal perhaps.

If anyone believes it’s just a matter of time before we get back to normal proceedings and everything will be just the same as it was, they’re kidding themselves.

Make no mistake, the much sought-after face-to-face experience will still hold the key but it’s important that we find a way to blend in-person interaction with the online experience that we relied on completely during the course of the pandemic. Earlier this year at the CES, the LG booth didn’t feature its usual lineup of high-end TVs. Yet, the South Korean electronics giant created a big impact on the floor, giving us all a masterclass on how to create a matchless experience with a unique virtual booth. Through the LG virtual experience center, it unveiled all key products and concepts it had to exhibit while engaging effortlessly with visitors on the show floor using advanced Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality technologies. There’s a lesson in there: break away from the norm, pick and choose a few pillar events to do online, execute and see how well they’re received.

As the acute phase of the pandemic draws to a close, large scale trade shows and events are slowly starting to surface. Nobody can say for sure whether they’ll return to their full glory, but the changes in the way things used to run in this circuit have been dramatic. The scheduling of events is still fluid pending acceptance of new timing, format etc. And this applies for both local and international shows in several key cities the world over. For example, early this year, CES saw a few exhibitors and brands pull out of the show at the last minute, as the Omicron variant wreaked havoc all over the globe. Although everyone is positive such shows will be back with a bang next year, it remains to be seen how the events and trade show industry will wade through the shifting landscape of this brave new post pandemic world.

Exhibition and Trade Shows Back with a Bang in a Post-Pandemic World

Newer Articles

Older Articles