by Angelo Gangone, Executive VP of AWFS®
With Covid-19 still being ever present in our everyday lives, it is not uncommon for our exhibitors to approach us with questions regarding our upcoming event. Although a great deal can happen between now and the show, it seems that there is a lot of good news on the vaccine front, in terms of their effectiveness, even if the initial rollout has not gone quite as smoothly as one would hope. Nonetheless, there is certainly confidence that adjustments will be made, and the vaccine will be distributed more efficiently to a considerably larger group of individuals in the coming weeks.
Another sign for optimism is that new cases have nosedived since mid-January. As of February 7th, new cases have fallen below 100, 000 for the first time since November 2, 2020. Now, we realize that there are still far too many cases, but the trend is highly encouraging.
Recently, Dr. Allen Shaw shared the following information on behalf of the Center for Exhibition Industry Research (CEIR), leaders in the field of event research. Taken directly from a blog article posted on ceir.org on February 7, 2021, titled “CEIR Research Predicts Recovery in Second Half of 2021,” a model created by CEIR’s Chief Economist, Dr. Allen Shaw, predicts that the pandemic will have peaked in January and the events industry will exit the tunnel soon, with small, regional events already beginning to happen and larger shows picking up in the third quarter. “Because of President Biden’s systematic approach to tackle the virus and the additional rescue program now under negotiation, the probability for this scenario is high,” Shaw said. In addition, Nancy Drapeau, CEIR’s VP of Research added, “U.S. new cases are now plummeting after three waves,” said Drapeau. “The only unknown is these various mutations, but the rush to vaccinate, along with everyone following public health recommendations, can help protect us from that.”
Of course, even with this news, as encouraging as it may be, AWFS® will continue to monitor feedback from both exhibitors and prospective attendees, as the weeks progress. Although, we are aware that our industry is eager to conduct business face-to-face once again, we expect pre-registration to gain momentum much later this year than would typically be the case. As a result, show management will be conducting surveys of past attendees as a means of gauging their levels of comfort and confidence in attending live events. These surveys will take place at various times as a means of spotting trends, patterns and the trajectory of the overall confidence displayed by attendees.
This information will be critical to our planning because the more information we can gather prior and leading up to the show, the more effective we can be as show managers. We want to ensure that we are able to keep our participants safe and healthy while providing a quality event that justifies the investment of time and money our exhibitors need to make in order to participate. These are our two top priorities during a regular show year, but they take on an added importance during an uncertain period, as we continue to make progress towards the mitigation of Covid-19.
In the following weeks and months, AWFS®Fair management will also be providing exhibitors with the safety procedures that will be required throughout the show by the Las Vegas Convention Center. As you keep an eye out for this information, we are available if you have any questions regarding the Fair or your organization’s participation in our event, by contacting Amy Bartz for sales-related information at (323) 215 – 0302, or Kim Roehricht for questions concerning show/booth regulations and general operations and logistics.
In the meantime, as confident as we are that we will continue to see improvement in the number of cases, which will lead to states opening various segments of the economy, including live events, the AWFS® Board of Directors has created a Covid-19 Cancellation Policy, in the unfortunate event that we must cancel the show due to the virus. Should we even get to that point, the decision will be made in early to mid-May.