Battered by the relentless spread of COVID-19, the exhibition industry has been in free fall for the last several months from a pandemic that has infected almost 7 million and killed more than 200,000 nationally as of this writing. According to a survey of 450 global event and exhibition organizers conducted by UFI, the global assemblage of trade show and exhibition organizers, 85 percent of companies declared their overall level of activity plummeted to between 5 percent and 6 percent of their normal pace in June. Reflecting this dismal new normal, the Center for Exhibition Industry Research (CEIR) reported in the second quarter of 2020 that the business-to-business exhibition industry in the United States had come to a hard stop with growth declining nearly 100 percent from the year before as virtually no in-person trade shows took place.

While some hope that Operation Warp Speed, the federal government's attempt to fast-track a vaccine, may soon provide a cure for the coronavirus that would allow mass gatherings to return both quickly and in force, such a remedy may not be widely available until 2021, and even then it may fall short of the hoped-for effect. The Food and Drug Administration guidelines, issued last June, state that a vaccine for COVID-19 need be only 50-percent effective to receive the governmental green light. That means millions might still need to employ the face masks, social distancing, and respiratory hygiene that have become standard. Additionally, surveys from Reuters/Ipsos, ABC News/Washington Post, and the Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs suggest that somewhere between 20 to 27 percent might refuse to be immunized. Such a sizeable resistant faction means, in effect, leaving millions more who could still catch and subsequently spread the disease to others who delay or have difficulty receiving such protection.

Treatments such as Remdesivir and convalescent plasma, while sparking hope, are useful mostly to shorten recovery times for those who suffer a moderate to heightened form of the disease and would not work as any kind of practical prophylactic against the coronavirus. Anticipating no timely cure as such, expos like the International Consumer Electronics Show and the Geneva Motor Show have already cancelled their face-to-face events for 2021.

All Together Now
With that ominous background, the Orange County Convention Center (OCCC) in Orlando, FL, opened its doors on July 24, 2020, for its first trade show under what it deemed "modified operations." Called the Together Again Expo (TAE), the one-day event was spearheaded by general service contractor Alliance Nationwide Exposition working with the OCCC. The show would hopefully be the first in what Alliance called the "Together Again Hometown Series," a sequence of shows whose aim is to demonstrate how exhibitions and events in the near future might take place with minimal risk – even without a vaccine.

Drawing nearly 1,400 attendees in person (another 8,225 attended virtually) and 250 exhibitors from the live-events industry, the one-day show offered a protective bubble based on the criteria for large gatherings recently set forth by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and the Global Biorisk Advisory Council (GBAC). In particular, the GBAC's Star Facility Accreditation program offers a 20-category checklist that the OCCC adheres to and which fueled much of its own Recovery and Resiliency Plan for all the convention center's future activities.

Guided by those blueprints, as well as input from state and local authorities in Florida, the OCCC implemented a series of precautionary measures for the TAE, including controlling the check-in process, directing attendee flow, checking attendees' temperatures prior to entry, rearranging floor plans to enable physical distancing, and providing complimentary personal protective equipment (PPE) kits to all guests. These would apply not just to the show proper but to its move-in and move-out process as well. Further, the OCCC would offer what it described as "medical concierge services." Among other aspects designed for show/event organizers, those services would offer attendees 24/7 medical help though Orlando Health's Virtual Visit program, which can connect guests directly to physicians through their phones, tablets, or computers.

Pre-Event Protections
The organizers initiated the protective measures before any attendee even set one foot on the show floor. First, weeks before the TAE opened, multiple emails went to potential attendees and exhibitors including links to an Event Safety Tips video. The pre-show communications conveyed a wide range of safety, medical, sanitization, and other related protocols that would be employed, which guests would be obligated to observe, such as wearing face masks, avoiding handshakes, and keeping to the now-standard 6 feet of social distancing. Beyond those now-familiar basics that constitute our new normal, the preparatory instruction promoted multiple best practices for exhibitors themselves, such as frequently disinfecting high-touch surfaces, staggering appointments with guests to preemptively avoid crowding, and distancing visitors when they come into the booth. Besides building confidence that the show organizers would mitigate the risk of contracting the virus as much as possible, the communications likely had the ancillary benefit of screening out those who might harbor an animus against sometimes hotly debated protective procedures such as wearing face masks.

One aspect of COVID-19 that everyone from hospitals to airlines to restaurants has learned is that measures must be visible to their respective audiences in order to boost confidence. Thus, the TAE's safety-first mandate was evident to guests before they could enter the OCCC. Outside the complex, staff took guests' temperatures and then affixed an "I'm coolâ?� sticker (indicating their temp was below the 100.4 degrees Fahrenheit threshold indicating a possible infection) on their clothing before they could move further into the complex. Once inside, attendees made their way to a registration area where they scanned a QR code incorporated into the event app to check in, after which staffers handed them lanyards, single-use packets of sanitizer, and face masks (guests could wear their own, if they wished).

Sanitized For Your Safety
Entering the show floor, visitors found a world similar to what they had known but with substantive alterations that mirrored the before-and-after nature of the COVID-19 phenomenon: mask-wearing exhibitors, wider-than-usual aisles (some ran 20 or even 40 feet in width) marked with directional arrows, and ubiquitous hand-sanitizer stations. Among the approximately 250 exhibitors guests encountered, there were companies who have marketed to the live-events industry for decades, as well as novel additions who may become mainstays at face-to-face events in a post-virus world, such as companies offering sanitization and sterilization system, body-temperature scanners, and other new products to keep attendees safe. Reinforcing awareness of the show's protocols, some booths sported signage that read, "This area has been sanitized."
Even meeting rooms were a nod to a post-COVID-19 reality that will likely linger for many more months or even years to come. Instead of using traditional spaces set up by exhibitors in their booths, for example, whose close quarters and reduced ventilation now pose a potential health risk, attendees could instead opt for pods that were open on one side allowing any respiratory exhalations to disperse more easily. Paralleling the evolution in meeting rooms, media interviews on the show reflected the way COVID-19 has altered even that once-routine aspect. In place of journalists from various media outlets standing close to their subjects at perhaps randomly chosen areas, such conversations now took place in designated expansive spaces permitting proper social distancing. Additionally, overhead boom mics replaced the standard handheld microphones (usually thrust close to someone's face, meaning the interviewers and their subjects are too close for comfort) to further allow a safer physical experience.

Few aspects of the typical trade show experience were left untouched in some way at the show. Take, for example, one cornerstone of exhibitions, live presentations. Visitors streaming into the show floor's Main Stage area could instantly see a dramatic change from the usual long rows of people sardined together: Chairs were separated from each other with 6 feet or more of room on all sides. The opening session taking place there, "Re-Open For Business," featured an emcee and a lineup that encompassed Mark Tester, OCCC executive director; Patty Olinger, executive director of the Global Biorisk Advisory Council (GBAC); and Dr. Antonio Crespo, an infectious disease specialist in Florida, among others. All speakers were properly socially distanced and wore face masks when not speaking. (Even when talking, several presenters, such as GBAC's Olinger, often kept facial coverings on.) Other sessions included "Designing for Safe Environments in Our Brave New World," "It's Your Choice: Leading with Empathy Through Uncertainty," and "Global Outlook for Going Live Safely." All followed the same safety protocols as the opening session.

Even live demonstrations – which often involve crowds packed closely together – proved they could be conducted safely as well. During cooking demos (performed by Centerplate Inc., executive chef James Katurakes, and others), Plexiglas barriers protected the onlooking audience. Participating chefs wore gloves, which they changed repeatedly during the show, and washed their hands continually in a sink accessible behind the stage. This hygienic vigilance was maintained even in between the culinary demos, with staff sanitizing and wiping down the surfaces and equipment on stage. All sample food items of chicken Marsala and cheesecake lollipops handed out by staff during the demonstrations were pre-packaged in to-go containers, thereby reducing the chances for the fare to act as inadvertent carriers for the disease.

The Show Must Go On
Shortly after the last cooking display wrapped up, attendees filed out of the show floor much as they had filed in, via a one-way aisle marked with directional stickers. More importantly, they departed in apparent good health – the TAE seemingly left no trail of infections in its wake. While no post-show contact tracing was initiated by show organizers, no accounts of infections stemming from the TAE have been reported either, as far as is known. In summing up the show, one exhibitor, Gina Porcaro, senior account executive at Optima Graphics Inc., was thoughtfully sanguine: "Unlike concerts and sporting events, trade shows and events can be controlled and managed safely," said Porcaro. "It will be a slow and calculated restart, but we can do this, and we can get back to business."
Another visitor had a slightly more measured perspective. "Luckily, the event wasn't very crowded, so it felt spread out, including the seating at the main presentation," said Betsy Earle, CTSM, and founder of Event Driven Solutions LLC, who attended the TAE live. While observing that the OCCC's "cleaning staff was everywhere," Earle also noted the absence of certain protective measures. "No one asked me about symptoms, recent travel, or which state I had come from when I arrived," she said.

Whether live trade shows and events will be successful in luring exhibitors and attendees back en masse may not be known for several months. According to EXHIBITOR magazine's own industry surveys, 85 percent of corporate exhibit managers are currently not allowed to travel for trade shows and/or events. Additionally, the lack of a federal law regarding COVID-19-related liability for convention centers, show organizers, and other entities relevant to mass gatherings is likely to hinder any relaxation of those travel bans. (The U.S. Senate's proposed Safe to Work Act, which offers liability protections that would cover COVID-19-connected injuries from 2019 to 2024 or whenever the virus is no longer considered a threat, is currently stalled due to several contested sections.) Still, live trade shows and events will reemerge at some point, allowing us all to get back to work and be together once again.