Trade fair management in Corona times

In the long term, trade fairs are indispensable for Germany as a business location, Jörn Holtmeier (Managing Director of AUMA - Association of the German Trade Fair Industry) is convinced of this. Virtual presentations cannot replace real trade fairs in the long run. But the events will change in the future, because there is currently no end in sight to the corona pandemic.

Hybrid events are the trade fairs of the future

So far, trade fairs have been designed for large numbers of visitors. These cannot be further reconciled with the hygiene concepts that are now required. Although some venues offer the option of expanding the exhibition space and distributing the visitors over a larger area, organizers and exhibitors must expect to reach significantly fewer interested parties directly at the exhibition.

For many industries, a purely online trade fair is certainly the optimal solution. For example, the computer games fair Gamescom took place exclusively digitally for the first time.

But for companies that are at home in the real and not in the digital world, virtual trade fairs are not a good solution. Nevertheless, the world's largest industrial show Hannover Messe was also offered as a purely online edition in the Corona year 2020.

However, the trend is towards compact real trade fairs with digital supplements . Event it, a subsidiary of Deutsche Messe AG in Hanover, developed the H'Up concept. A separate streaming arena was created in the 3,000 square meter Hall 18 of the Hanover Fair. Five backdrops with stages offer options such as panel discussions, interviews and product presentations. Messe boss Jochen Köckler is convinced of the combination of online, hybrid and live .

Trade fair planning for 2021

"Trade fairs will continue to be highly efficient for B2B communication," says Jörn Holtmeier. An exclusively virtual presentation is ideal for conveying information. However, real trade fairs appeal to all the senses and are therefore much more persuasive. It is extremely difficult to acquire customers digitally alone.

However, since the trade fairs are becoming more manageable and smaller, it is important to have an excellent presentation on site . The individual visitor will become more valuable in the future. A trade fair stand that is designed to handle masses is of little use under these conditions. An inviting ambience and direct customer contact are therefore more important than ever.

Instead of addressing the masses of visitors personally at the trade fair stand, stand concepts that also include virtual reality will be important in the future. You can use this to inform a larger group of visitors about your offer at the same time while adhering to hygiene concepts. Personal discussions with potential customers complement the trade fair appearance.