Exhibits and product launches hit hard
The ongoing coronavirus pandemic continues to see design events and trade shows around the world forced to reschedule or cancel completely, with a series of US-based shows due to take place in May being the latest casualties.
Following the news last week that Lightfair has been postponed to “late summer or early autumn”, and the rescheduling of LEDucation to mid-August, HD Expo, Las Vegas, ICFF and Wanted Design in New York have all been cancelled for 2020.
Currently, Lightovation in Texas is planned for June to take place as planned, however NeoCon in Chicago – also set for June – has been ‘suspended’, with new dates yet to be confirmed.
In the UK, May’s Clerkenwell Design Week has been pushed back to 14-16 July, while Plasa Focus Leeds, due to take place on 12-13 May, has been cancelled. However, Plasa, scheduled for 6-8 September at London’s Olympia, is still, for the moment at least, proceeding as expected.
Elsewhere, Design Shanghai Fair has confirmed that the show will now be held from 26-29 May.
The uncertaintly that Coronavirus has thrown across the world leaves the majority of us not knowing when we’ll get back to exhibiting or attending the many important shows throughout the year – lesser still whether it’s safe to attend if they can still run.
Manufacturers will have planned to launch new product lines at one of the many shows to have been postponed or called off, and as such, instead of the usual product previews and reviews, many events are offering a more general overview of services and opportunities – largely highlighting products already launched so far this year or those that were due to be unveiled at cancelled shows and events.
We should expect many lauches to be pre-reccorded and take to the web or be completely unattended as opposed to the vast journalist filled theatres we’re so used to with the Samsung and Apple events – There’s no doubt that 2020 is going to be a curve ball that no one will be able to predict.
Unsurprisingly this is having a gigantic commercial effect across the board and has sent a large proportion of the industry into survival mode, especially as there’s no gaurantee how long this will last, or how deep it will go. Now more than ever, it is important we work together and ensure the industry endures.
We’ll come out the otherside, but how that looks and who’s left in the game is anyones guess.
