AVIXA has committed to going ahead with InfoComm 2021 in October. The event is scheduled to take place at Orange County Convention Center, Orlando, Florida on October 23-29. Meanwhile, the National Association of Broadcasters has announced the cancellation of NAB Show 2021, which had been scheduled for October 9–13 in Las Vegas.
Chris Brown, executive vice president and managing director of global connections and events at the National Association of Broadcasters said in statement: “For more than a year we have worked tirelessly to bring our industry together safely in Las Vegas at NAB Show. Unfortunately, the pandemic and surge of the Delta variant has presented unexpected and insurmountable challenges for our global community.
“As we have always kept the best interest and safety of the industry as our priority, it has become apparent in the face of these challenges that we can no longer effectively host NAB Show or our co-located events, the Radio Show and Sales and Management Television Exchange, in person. NAB Show is the premier destination for the media and entertainment industry and we will not move forward with a show that delivers anything less than the excellence our community has come to expect and deserves from us.”
Speaking with AVNation‘s Tim Albright, AVIXA CEO Dave Labuskes was bullish about InfoComm 2021 going ahead: “If there’s anything we’ve learned in the last two years, it’s that nobody has the ability to say anything with certainty anymore,” he said. “What I will tell you is that, short of the local government of Orlando, or Orange County, or Florida, or the federal government of the United States telling us that we are violating the law in having an event, we will be having InfoComm.There is no greater physical manifestation of the marketplace than a tradeshow. Nor is there a greater physical manifestation of community than that tradeshow.”
You can listen to the full interview here, where Labuskes discusses and unpacks decisions for some companies to cancel, some to change their presence, how many others have committed to exhibit, and the broader topic of holding InfoComm in October.
