Comment on IFA 2022: I was there and that was a good thing

During the IFA, I had a lot of exciting conversations and met a lot of people who I hadn’t seen “in real life” for two years due to the pandemic. That made me very happy and I was not alone in that – many trade visitors and exhibitors have confirmed this to me. So not that they met me, but that they too had many interesting – and useful – conversations at the IFA stands and in the evenings while networking.

Certain things are just better told in persona. Suddenly topics come up that you hadn’t even thought of. And that bring completely new impulses for the cooperation with the interlocutors or also with other people. During the Berlin trade fair, I received valuable tips on new topics, met nice people and, of course, warmed up memories with old acquaintances. That will also help me in the future, because it can be used in the next video meeting, in the next e-mail or in a telephone conversation. Someone recently wrote to me, “The encounter is the basis for assessment and trust.” I see it the same way.

Digital is often easier, but also has disadvantages

The past two years have shown that much more is going digital than previously thought. Confidential conversations, however, require a lot of trust: Who else is listening, are strangers sitting in the other person’s room, is the conversation being recorded, etc. Such conversations usually don’t work really well either by telephone or in video meetings.

Nevertheless, it is clear that there is no way around virtual meetings at digital or at least hybrid events. Many product demos can be done much more efficiently in virtual space on the PC. And it’s cheaper on top of that, travel costs are eliminated on the one hand and the costs for the (exhibition) stand on the other. In addition, all participants are only bound for a short time. A lot of money was blown out of the window in the past. And the many business trips were not good for the climate anyway.

More visitors than expected

It is possible that younger people in particular are much more relaxed about the topic of virtual meetings. That’s why I was all the happier that there were actually many more visitors at the IFA than I had expected. So not just trade visitors, but also private individuals who just wanted to go to a trade fair again. The organizer announced that 161,000 visitors flocked to the area under the radio tower over the five days of the fair. This is significantly less than in 2019 (there were 239,000 on 6 days of the fair), and a number of school classes were also sighted again. But hey, these are the buyers of tomorrow who must (!) introduce the exhibition company to the products.

Nevertheless, the question arises as to what will become of trade fairs like the IFA in the future? It’s hard to tell if it’s a discontinued model. I think we will need analog formats like this for a while. Until then, at some point, the Metaverse takes over and we can meet virtually “in real life”. Until then, I’ll think about a suitable avatar.

(uk)