Event organizers around the globe have been hard-hit by the pandemic, including both for-profit organizations and non-profits such as associations, both of which count on event revenue for their very survival. And there have been many different responses, ranging from full cancellations, to postponements, to conversion to virtual events to carry these groups through the pandemic.

drupa, for example, was originally scheduled for June 2020 and postponed until spring of 2021. At the time, no one really thought this pandemic would last as long as it has. Finally, drupa cancelled the in-person event and is instead holding a “virtual drupa” from April 20 to 23. The show is on course for an in-person event from May 28 to June 7, 2024. Interpack suffered a similar fate: cancelled for 2021 and rescheduled to occur from May 4 to 10, 2023.

Here in North America, major events such as PRINTING United and EFI Connect were re-envisioned as multi-day virtual events (PRINTING United Digital Experience and EFI Engage, respectively). Both plan in-person events—PRINTING United in Orlando with a planned exhibit space of 1.2 million square feet, October 6 to 8, 2021. This may still be optimistic; it remains to be seen. EFI Connect will resume its in-person event in January, 2022 at The Wynn in Las Vegas—let’s all hope we have this virus well under control by then! During its virtual event, PRINTING United delivered more than 7,800 hours of video content, all of which was made available through January 31, 2021. When we spoke to organizers in November, they reported more than 8,200 attendees from 108 countries, with more expected to view the archives at their convenience.