…putting health and safety first, show to admit limited number of attendees as world rebounds
By MKPE ABANG
While the entire world suffocates under the choking grip of the Coronavirus Pandemic, IFA 2020 offers hope, that after all, humanity might awaken to brighter.
This glimmer of hope comes with the announcement by organisers of IFA Berlin, gfu and Messe Berlin, that indeed, the IFA 2020 would hold, although scaled down to three days from the original six. IFA 2020 will hold from September 3 – 5 in Berlin, Germany.
Since COVID-19 was isolated in Wuhan, China, on December 31, 2019, world’s economies have been practically brought to their knees, with trillions of dollars wiped off; hundreds of thousands of lives have been lost, while over four million are infected by the virus. The number of jobs already lost or set to be lost is almost unimaginable.
As of May 19, 2020, the World Health Organisation (WHO) reported 4,731,458 confirmed cases of COVID-19, with 316,169 confirmed deaths in 216 countries with cases.
Across the world virtually all events, conferences, workshops and exhibitions were either completely cancelled or postponed due to restrictions imposed, travel bans and social distancing where, in most countries, only a handful of persons may be seen together.
In fact, the International Telecommunication, (ITU), postponed its annual event, the ITU Telecom World, now named ITU Digital World 2020 scheduled for September 2020 in Hanoi, Vietnam, to September 2021 due to COVID-19 Pandemic.
Thus, uncertainty pervaded the world in the first four months and three weeks of 2020.
But as fears thicken of an entire half-year passing in further uncertainty, the announcement in Berlin, on May 19, 2020, by the organisers that the IFA 2020 will take place, even if allowing only a limited number of attendees, brings succour to the global community.
And, citing health and safety as first consideration in the new concept of the event, the organisers announced that the “IFA Berlin reinvents itself for 2020 as a three-day event” with “a tight limit on the number of attendees.” It is believed that no more than 1,000 may attend any one section of the event.
For instance, IFA 2019 had in attendance over 2000 exhibitors, over 400,000 visitors and about 6,000 journalists from around the world. In its original form, IFA 2020 was primed to surpass those numbers. However, the new concept IFA in the wake of COVID-19, health and safety are priority, hence numbers are no longer the focus.
Staying with its core functions, the IFA 2020 Special Edition supports brands, manufacturers, media and retailers to connect and celebrate innovation across consumer electronics and home appliances, the organisers revealed during a special global press conference streamed live from Berlin and participated in by hundreds of technology journalists across the world.
Specifically, the IFA 2020 will host four stand-alone events, namely the IFA Global Press Conference for brands’ keynotes and press conferences; the sourcing show IFA Global Markets; the innovation platform IFA NEXT meets IFA SHIFT Mobility; and the IFA Business, Retail and Meeting Lounges.
Announcing further that IFA “has been given the go-ahead to take place in 2020 as a real-life event in Berlin,” the organisers said this was however based on “a special concept that puts health and safety first.”
As a result, the event will take place over “just three days – from 3 to 5 September – this year’s IFA 2020 Special Edition falls well within the restrictions imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic.”
Accordingly, “the invite-only event will put strict limits on the number of attendees and focus on IFA’s four global core functions,” which are:
1. an innovation showcase for brands;
2. a platform for cutting-edge technologies;
3. a sourcing event for OEMs and ODMs; and
4. a marketplace where retailers and brands can come together.
IFA 2020 will be the first opportunity for the consumer electronics and home appliances industries to present new products and services directly to media and – by extension – to consumers and the global trade community.
The event also comes at a crucial moment for brands, manufacturers and retailers around the world, just ahead of the year’s most important shopping season stretching from Black Friday and Singles Day to Cyber Monday, Christmas and beyond.
Jens Heithecker, the Executive Director of IFA Berlin, said: “After all the event cancellations during the past months, our industry urgently needs a platform where it can showcase its innovation, so that it can recover and rebound. The recovery of our industry starts here at IFA Berlin.” While virtual events were useful, they were “missing the immediacy, hands-on experience and human connections that make events like IFA Berlin so incredibly useful,” Heithecker said.
The new concept for IFA 2020 was developed in close collaboration with public health authorities in Germany to ensure the health and safety of all participants. The organisers will make sure that social distancing, careful crowd control and other effective public hygiene measures are all in place.
As a result, IFA 2020 will not be open to the public, but run as an invitation-only event.