Ready or not, the conference industry is returning post-Covid

After being shut down for about two years because of the Covid-19 pandemic, the in-person conference industry appears to be coming back.
After a two-year absence, the National Association of Broadcasters held its NAB Show in Las Vegas April 23-27. The 2022 show attracted more than 900 exhibitors and 52,468 attendees. The NAB Show is the world’s largest annual convention for broadcasters and the broader media, entertainment, and technology industries.
The biennial MODEX manufacturing and supply chain conference drew 857 exhibitors and 37,047 visitors to Atlanta’s Georgia World Congress Center March 28-31. It was the largest MODEX show ever, with 20% more visitors than the last pre-pandemic show – MODEX 2018.
The MODEX show is sponsored by MHI, an international trade association that represents the material handling, logistics and supply chain industry. MODEX is held every other year, alternating each year with the ProMat trade show.
Many other U.S. conferences are scheduled for physical shows soon. They include the Robotics Summit & Expo in Boston on May 10-11; the Sweets & Snacks Expo in Chicago from May 23-26, L.A TV Week in Los Angeles from June 6-8; the Automate conference in Detroit from June 6-9; and Sensors Converge in San Jose, Calif., from June 27-29. Those are just a few that I’ve been pinged about.
Some tech companies I follow are hesitant to go back to in-person shows just yet.
Apple is holding its annual Worldwide Developers Conference as an online event for the third straight year.
Google’s annual developer conference, Google I/O, will take place online May 11 and 12. Google I/O was canceled in 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic and returned as an online event in 2021.
However, other tech companies are going forward with in-person events that also will be livestreamed for people who can’t or don’t want to travel to a physical show.
Dell is holding its Dell Technologies World conference in Las Vegas May 2-5. Intel has scheduled its Intel Vision conference for May 10-11 at the Gaylord Texan Resort & Convention Center in Grapevine, Texas.

Related reading:

After two years of Covid, live events are finally happening again (Tech-media-tainment; Feb. 13, 2022)

Photo: Officials cut a ceremonial ribbon to open the NAB 2022 trade show in Las Vegas. (NAB)