As COVID-19 continues to spread — more slowly in some places than others — it's probably not a surprise to hear of more changes coming to trade shows and conferences still on the schedule for 2020.
On July 2, organizers of Plastimagen, Mexico's largest trade show, said they would move the event to January, from its original dates in November.
The same day, machinery giant KraussMaffei announced it would not "actively" participate in Fakuma 2020, set for October in Friedrichshafen, Germany.
And this morning, July 7, Sumitomo (SHI) Demag said it would refrain from actively participating at Fakuma "in case the exhibition will be executed this year at all."
"We are fortunate that the coronavirus has largely spared us. There have been isolated cases, but there have been no infections within the factories," CEO Gerd Liebig said in a news release. "Health is such a precious commodity. Even with hygiene measures in place, taking part in a trade fair involves too many imponderable risks and unfortunately we cannot eliminate risk."
The company added that Fakuma will continue to play a "major role" within the company's marketing strategy in the future, but not in 2020.
The decisions from KraussMaffei and Sumitomo (SHI) Demag comes on the heels of Wittmann Group's decision in late June it would skip Fakuma.
Many conferences are moving online with digital content. We're doing our best to keep up with all the changes in one combined tracking list. If we've forgotten anything, feel free to drop us a line and let us know.