Subsequent month’s Cellular World Congress (MWC) in Barcelona is shaping up as an early check of how shortly the worldwide enterprise occasions trade will bounce again from the pandemic, with a variety of hi-tech options being rolled out to attempt to maintain guests protected.
The usually annual occasion – which was cancelled final 12 months – is without doubt one of the world’s largest trade conferences, usually attracting round 100,000 attendees as telecoms firms showcase their newest merchandise and executives meet to do offers.
Whereas organisers will supply on-line entry for individuals who wish to keep away, they’re hoping to welcome hundreds of attendees from the world over, together with from international locations the place the pandemic continues to be raging.
Extra From This Part
There can be common speedy COVID-19 checks, a digital badge that may give entry to the venue, and a contact-tracing app if there are any infections.
Stay monitoring of the location will enable organisers to manage the variety of individuals in any given space, whereas attendees should put on face masks and maintain to one-way routes.
“We really feel now’s the time to resurface once more and to do a comeback present, whereas figuring out that it isn’t going to be the identical kind of present as earlier than, however it’s at the least a begin,” mentioned Mats Granryd, director common of telecom carriers affiliation GSMA, which organises the MWC.
Additionally learn: Now Qualcomm pulls out of MWC 2021’s in-person occasion
The Spanish authorities is on board. It has agreed to particular preparations to permit attendees from international locations the place journey restrictions are nonetheless in drive. Spain itself reported 33 COVID-19 deaths on Friday, the bottom determine since August.
However holding the occasion stays a big gamble for the GSMA. Main firms together with Nokia, Ericsson and Samsung will not be attending in-person, and attendance is anticipated to be lower than half the 100,000 of a standard 12 months.
“Speaking to individuals within the trade, there’s a actual need to get again to bodily occasions, however it’s all about timing,” mentioned Ben Wooden, chief analyst at CCS Perception. “We’ll discover out in coming weeks whether or not the GSMA has made the right determination.”
The cancellation of final 12 months’s occasion was a giant blow for the GSMA and compelled it to put off about 40% of its staff. Sub-par attendance, or one other cancellation, would imply extra ache.
A profitable present, alternatively, may supply a mannequin for different occasion organisers trying to get their companies again on monitor.
FACE-TO-FACE
The GSMA determined in mid-January to go forward with the MWC in Barcelona, with a rescheduled February occasion in Shanghai as a warm-up.
“Shanghai was in a manner a testbed. Is it potential to have a giant present with face masks, with social distancing, with testing beforehand? It was, and we had zero circumstances,” Granryd mentioned.
“It was actually after Shanghai, I feel, we felt assured that we’re capable of pull it off.”
About 25,000 individuals attended MWC Shanghai this 12 months and greater than 100,000 watched displays on-line. That was one of many GSMA’s first hybrid occasions, with on-line and in-person entry.
The MWC’s on-line platform can be built-in with Microsoft merchandise, permitting attendees to attach in video convention assembly rooms.
However typically there is no such thing as a substitute for face-to-face conferences, Granryd mentioned.
“We will construct belief to some extent over digital conferences, however not if it is a deal value billions, then it is advisable sit down and look one another within the eye, and that’s the reason why we really feel assured that this can be one thing,” he mentioned.
GRABBING THE LIMELIGHT
Whereas some fear the absence of huge names will cut back the convention’s attraction, smaller firms need to seize the limelight. Over 400 startups will exhibit their newest merchandise on the MWC.
“This can be a distinctive alternative for the smaller distributors to stand up and get their message out and possibly turn out to be a giant vendor sooner or later,” mentioned Danielle Royston, founding father of cloud consultancy agency TelcoDR.
Royston scooped up one of many largest exhibition stands, measuring 6,000 sq. metres after Ericsson pulled out.
TelcoDR, which bought the stand at a lowered fee however nonetheless paid tens of millions of {dollars}, may have 30 startups that it advises and/or invests in showcasing their merchandise on the sales space.
“That is your probability as a small vendor,” she mentioned. “We return to the previous manner, subsequent 12 months.”
Leave a Reply