While most trade shows have either gone virtual or remain postponed, some organizers believe the show must go on, albeit with changes due to COVID-19.

The 61st Annual Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show (FLIBS), the world’s largest in-water boat show, went on as scheduled at the end of October. With most of the show taking place outside, event organizers and city officials felt confident in presenting a safe experience for attendees. Last year’s show was record setting with almost 100,000 tickets sold and more than $760 million injected into the tri-county economy, The South Florida Sun Sentinel reported. Despite capacity restrictions, this year’s overall attendance was down only 20%, according to Great Lakes Boating.

Attendees masked up for the 61st Annual Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show.

FLIBS organizers implemented several safety precautions:

• installing thermal imaging cameras to monitor people’s temperature as they entered
• enhanced deep cleaning before, during and after each day’s events with overnight disinfection
• electronic tickets and digital materials to help reduce human contact
• seven waterfront locations accessible from 16 entrances to reduce crowding
• expanding floating dock widths up to 30 feet to ensure proper spacing and social distancing
• offering a new VIP pass that allows entry into the show two hours before everyone else
• requiring masks or face coverings
• setting up additional hand sanitizer stations

“I think many of these protocols will stay in place for the foreseeable future,” Rick McConnell, president of North America for Informa Markets, told Trade Show Executive. “It’s all about ensuring safety for our attendees, exhibitors and staff. That is good business and the FLIBS team did an amazing job of making that happen.

One last share from past weekend's Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show #FLIBS Looking forward to more events this fall!#event #networking #conference #eventprofs #travel pic.twitter.com/cs2PRgySrm

— Xtreme Exhibits (@XtremeExhibits) November 4, 2020

The promotional products industry has been ahead of the curve, holding mini outdoor trade shows throughout the summer. For example, a small group of sales reps from different companies, including Top 40 suppliers Polyconcept North America (asi/78897) and SanMar (asi/84863), organized a tailgate-style trade show in the parking lot of Philadelphia-based Spike’s Trophies (asi/569701). Abiding by CDC guidelines, the group limited attendance to 25 people per hour during the three-hour event.

About 50 distributors showed up, all wearing masks and maintaining social-distancing measures. Everyone brought their own bags from home and suppliers with clothing racks were constantly disinfecting samples. “It was nice to just get out of the house and see people,” says Amanda Vories, senior account manager at Chadds Ford, PA-based Proforma Print Marketing (asi/300094). “You get so stuck in PPE purgatory that you forget about the other products we can offer. It made me feel very hopeful for the state of the industry.”

Brian Conway (left), owner of Collingdale, PA-based A.I.R. Conway, exhibits at his first trade show since the COVID-19 outbreak.

Similar safety precautions were followed at the Philadelphia Area Promotional Products Association (PAPPA) Fall Expo in October. More than 40 suppliers and dozens of distributors – all wearing masks and staying socially distant – convened at ASI’s parking lot. “It’s important to be out there maintaining relationships with supplier reps, seeing what’s new and generating ideas,” said Jodi Frank of Wilmington, DE-based Frank Communication Solutions. “If we can do it in a safe manner where everyone follows the rules, it’s a nice alternative during the pandemic.”