Digital Signage Expo has postponed the 2020 version of the show to September, still in Las Vegas.
Dates and venue, I am told, are still to be locked down.
“This was not an easy decision to make, but the escalation of travel bans and Coronavirus cases dictates this action,” Chris Gibbs, the President and COO of show organizer Exponation told me this morning. “We are working with the Las Vegas Convention Center to secure new dates for DSE 2020 and will be making that announcement in the near future.”
This was inevitable. With shows cancelling or postponing all around it, Exponation would have been dealing with no end of public pressure to not hold a large gathering when “social distancing” is being encouraged or mandated.
The trade show was also seeing widespread defections that were likely only going to accelerate for all the reasons covered 24/7 in mainstream and trade media. Had the show stubbornly gone ahead as planned, it likely would have been a ghost of its normal self in terms of both exhibitors and attendees.
Like many or most, I could see this coming and had already put plans in place to shift the traditional 16:9 Mixer. More on that later.