COVID-19's new normal: A time without trade shows
The roaring (20)20’s got off to a bad start: ecological destruction, political unrest, and a pandemic that knocked the world off its feet. To add insult to injury, 2020 was a leap year…
COVID-19 presented an unprecedented global crisis that rippled through all parts of society. The problem for the construction industry is simple but substantial: the virus spreads from person to person. So, we can’t go to any events that break the boundaries of social distancing.
In the blink of an eye, trade shows around the world were put on hiatus.
BIMexpo in Madrid, Coverings in New Orleans, and Salone del Mobile in Milan were all canceled and (perhaps optimistically) postponed to 2021. BAU in Munich chose another approach and decided to go full-blown digital for January 2021.
With the golden boy of construction canceled, manufacturers were - and are - left aghast at the notion of reaching, marketing, and selling products in COVID-19’s “new normal.”