The InfoComm 2021 Show has been postponed from June to October. It is the latest event on the media technology business annual calendar to suffer the impact of the pandemic.
Show owner AVIXA (which stands for the Audiovisual Integrated Experience Association) announced the change today. CEO David Labuskes wrote that planners are making the change “with a holistic perspective of all factors in North America.”
The event now is scheduled for Oct. 23–29 at the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando, Fla. In 2019, the last time InfoComm was held in person, it attracted about 44,000 people.
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The show website states, “While third-party research indicates a high confidence level for attendees to return to in-person events in 2021, we also acknowledge the delay in the widespread distribution and administration of the COVID-19 vaccines within the U.S. which may influence an individual’s ability and willingness to travel to InfoComm.”
Among other things, this change means that, if current plans hold, the month of October is going to be an important one for physical trade shows in and around the media and AV industries. October is also when this year’s 2021 NAB Show is to be held, combined with the fall Radio Show and collocated in Las Vegas with the AES fall show.
“AVIXA has continued to monitor the vaccine rollout, economic indicators, travel restrictions, and the show community to better gauge overall trends and future conditions for holding a major event in the U.S. in June of 2021,” Labuskes wrote.
He said that a postponement had “overwhelming support” from the show’s stakeholders. “As excited as the community is about the show, and as hopeful and optimistic as we remain in combatting the pandemic, it is believed that the U.S. will be further along in the battle against the pandemic by October than in June.”
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Integrated Systems Europe (ISE) continues to plan its scheduled event in Barcelona in June. ISE is a joint venture of AVIXA and CEDIA, the Custom Electronic Design and Installation Association.
