Attendees can expect additional precautions in place for the show
Staff Writer
Farms.com
In a year with many events cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Agri-Trade Equipment Expo in Red Deer, Alta. is a go.
After the Government of Alberta released regulations around indoor trade shows, David Fiddler and the event team decided to proceed with the November event.
“We felt our plan, because we've been working on a COVID-19 operational plan, met – or, in some areas, exceeded – (the government’s) requirements for hosting an indoor tradeshow,” Fiddler said. “We feel very strongly that we can provide a safe environment.”
Fiddler is the show manager for Agri-Trade. Attendees can expect a familiar feel for the show, with some addition health and safety measures.
“We’ll have numerous hand sanitization stations. We adjusted the floor plan and continue to adjust it to widen the aisles. We eliminated all the adjacent 10 by 10 booths,” Fiddler told Farms.com. “We will have protocols for the exhibitors about when people touch items in their booth.”
Since the overall event is more of a shopping experience versus attendees listening to speakers, a lot of the show can proceed like normal. The event will continue with an IKEA-type floor plan. Attendees will enter in one location, follow a path to see all the booths, and exit from another location, said Fiddler.
Exhibitors who cannot attend the event in person have the option of attending virtually.
“We're going to provide a hybrid display … where exhibitors can have a screen, speakers and two-way communication with the public. When someone walks into a booth, he or she can either see the products in a virtual fashion, or actually interact with exhibitors, whether it be from their showroom, their manufacturing facility or their office,” Fiddler said.
The event team also reviewed the food services for the event, he said.
“We've adjusted our food service significantly because that's where the most congregation and lineups occur. So, we've added more food outlets and we've spaced out the seating,” he said.
The event staff encourage people to buy tickets online before the show to help with contract tracing. People can still buy tickets upon arrival, they’ll just need to register when they arrive and the price increases by $10/ticket, said Fiddler.
The event staff look forward to the show.
“This virus going anywhere anytime soon. We feel that people have become accustomed to shopping, going out, going to restaurants and working in this environment,” said Fiddler. “If people make sure that they do the right things and we do the right things, we can have an enjoyable shopping experience.”
Photo credit: Agri-Trade Equipment Expo photo