Nationally the United States is having to make important decisions regarding how and when we ‘re-open’ cities, states and our ‘normal’ activities.
While none of these decisions are easy and all come with their own unique set of challenges, I thought it was important to speak directly to our legislators as a voice from within the trade show industry.
Obviously all in-person trade shows small and large have been cancelled in the United States and replaced with either postponements, outright cancellations or changed to a ‘virtual event’.
Right now, it appears as though some shows are scheduled to resume beginning in August, although it is still too early to tell if the status will change or not.
Unfortunately our own industry Trade Show called ‘Exhibitor LIVE‘ was postponed for the 2nd time this year. It was originally scheduled to take place in March and then postponed to August 2020 at the Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas and as of yesterday moved to February 2021.
Here is their statement:
“Due to the public health and safety concerns related to COVID-19 and the restrictive constraints on large events, all parties have concluded that we must postpone EXHIBITORLIVE beyond our tentative August dates.“
This is the 2nd time in a row that Mother Nature has struck and prevented me from attending my favorite show of the year. In 2019 it was a 3 ft snowstorm for us here in Bend, OR that prevented flights from taking off or landing and this year a global pandemic.
But after having read that Germany got the greenlight to resume some Trade Shows, I really started to wonder when things will re-appear here in the U.S.
As some have pointed out, Trade Shows are key towards restoring economic growth and so it is my belief that now more than ever, our legislators need to hear from those most affected. It is time to start the discussion with how to safely re-open trade shows.
I hope that others will join me in advocating for our beloved in-person trade show industry. I have made an editable version of the letter available here for others to download and add their name or edit and send to their own congress person or local official.
Please join us in contacting our local legislators. Here is a link to locate your elected officials.
-Jeff Andrews
Production Prints