Focus shifted to Oct. 15 virtual Education Day and enhanced online events
TREVOSE, PA – August 13, 2020 – ASI Show® today announced the cancellation of its 2020 Chicago trade show and the planned rescheduling of its 2021 Orlando and Fort Worth trade shows from January to the second quarter of next year.
“The health, safety and well-being of everyone in the industry is of paramount importance,” said Timothy M. Andrews, president and chief executive officer of ASI. “Trade shows bring together thousands of new prospects and customers and include touching and feeling hundreds of new products. In light of the current transmission rate of COVID-19, we don’t believe it’s possible to have a safe and healthy environment at trade shows until the second quarter of next year.”
As a result, ASI Show is moving January 2021’s ASI Orlando to April and ASI Fort Worth to May. Details will be announced shortly. ASI Chicago will be held as planned July 27-29, 2021.
This is the first time in its long history that ASI Show has canceled a large, live event, but made the decision out of concern for the health of employees, exhibitors, distributors, Chicago city residents and out-of-state travelers confronting two-week quarantines.
Andrews added that as much as ASI Show had hoped to hold its Chicago show this fall for members who said they wanted and needed it for their business, it’s become clear that worsening health risks and still-strict government guidelines would prohibit hosting Chicago in 2020.
“All of us, in business and in life, must set examples for responding to this unprecedented crisis and it’s clear to me that large, live events will not be possible until farther into next year,” Andrews said. “We’re not going to compromise members or the industry by hosting large events before it can be done safely. We look forward to great ASI Shows, benefiting suppliers and distributors, starting in the second quarter of 2021.”
Right now, residents of more than 30 states have quarantine requirements when they travel to other states and it’s impossible to predict what quarantine and other health and travel guidelines will be in place through the first quarter of 2021. Andrews said, “Even if unrestricted travel becomes possible, I don’t believe a large trade show would produce an effective ROI for distributors and suppliers who are literally counting every dollar, every investment, as they work to remain healthy physically and as a business.”
In the interim, ASI Show is broadening its offerings of virtual education and exhibitor events. Andrews noted that ASI’s ESP® business platform has added more features, more products and more product information than ever, giving distributors a constantly updated tool to find the best products to help their clients succeed.
“Although we won’t be able to host any brick-and-mortar shows this year, we remain committed to our longstanding goal of helping our members connect and do business together by bringing suppliers and distributors together virtually,” said Rita Ugianskis-Fishman, senior vice president and general manager of ASI Show.
A virtual Education Day, free for ASI distributor members, will be Thursday, October 15, from 1-4 p.m. ET. The virtual event will offer the same valuable business content and expert instructors as ASI’s traditional in-person education day, specifically created to help distributors maneuver in an uncertain economy, with an emphasis on new and emerging markets carved out by recent shifts in the marketplace, including:
Plus, Stahls’ (asi/88984) will present a product decoration track and Digital Art Solutions (asi/14970) will present a multi-decoration design and production track.
According to ASI surveys, members are now looking for smaller, more intimate virtual events – and ASI Show is already delivering. Since the end of April and in response to the new business environment, ASI Show has hosted about one virtual event a week. Over the next several months, there are 25+ virtual events scheduled and by the end of 2020, ASI Show will have delivered over 40 new virtual events to its members.
Ongoing virtual events are: ASI Show at Home Presents: The Joe Show LIVE, online every other Tuesday from 10-10:30 a.m. ET, The Joe Show LIVE Canada, held monthly, and fASI Virtual.
Upcoming virtual events in the works include:
Please check the ASI Show website for the latest updates and schedules.
Suppliers with questions should contact Paul Elmer, ASI’s VP of sales and supplier marketing, at [email protected].
About ASI Show
The ASI Show Family of Events – ASI Show, fASIlitate, fASI500 and the ASI Roadshow in the U.S. and Canada – fosters business-building relationships among ASI distributor and supplier members, and includes options to meet the needs of the entire membership base. ASI Shows, the flagship series, are large-scale convention center trade shows held in Orlando, Fort Worth and Chicago. fASIlitate is a hosted buyer event that brings together the industry’s elite – top suppliers and million-dollar distributors – for three days of scheduled one-on-one meetings in select hotels across the country. fASI500 is a new hosted buyer event that connects highly sought-after suppliers with distributors who sell over half a million dollars annually in the promotional products industry. The ASI Roadshow visits top cities across North America and gives distributors an opportunity to escort their top clients. Visit asishow.com for more information about our full event portfolio.