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COVID-19 Resources

Throughout the world, COVID-19 has greatly impacted the business-to-business (B2B) exhibitions industry. CEIR has closely monitored the effects of the pandemic on the industry by tracking event cancellations and postponements. Below are resources contributed by the CEIR team that provides further insights as to the future of the B2B exhibitions industry.

Impact of COVID-19 on U.S. B2B Exhibition Organizers

Click here to download all past COVID-19 related webinar presentations. Please note that you must sign in or create a CEIR store account BEFORE downloading the webinar presentation.

February 2022

As forecast, the second half of 2021 marked the start of the recovery of the B2B exhibition industry. Though in December, Omicron surfaced and disrupted the momentum. Despite this, Omicron is different from Delta and business activities are not locking down as extensively as they did at the outset of the pandemic. The big question is, what does this all mean for the 2022 B2B exhibition industry schedule?

1) Be the first to learn the latest snapshot of the 2022 US B2B Exhibition Industry outlook per CEIR’s January Survey with US B2B Exhibition organizers, including:

  • Benchmarks on:
    • Impact on the B2B exhibition schedule: cancellations, postponements and events that have happened or are still scheduled as planned
    • Influence of the Omicron variant on prompting cancellation of events
    • Impact on event revenue due to cancellations and actions to offset losses due cancellations/postponements
    • Among events postponed/still scheduled/have happened: extent of pivot to hybrid models, what content this includes as well as requirements for participants attending an in-person event.
  • For events that have happened already in 2022:
    • Performance outcomes compared to 2019 editions of events
    • Exhibitor and attendee satisfaction
    • Lessons learned and successes

2) Updated look at the CEIR Index scenario analysis – with forecasts for the US economy and the B2B exhibition industry will through 2023.

3) Updated forecast for COVID-19 in the United States in 2022 per John Cordier, CEO of Epistemix, with implications and considerations for event planning in 2022.

Moderator:
Cathy Breden, CMP-F, CAE, CEM, CEO, CEIR

Panelists:
Nancy Drapeau, IPC, Vice President of Research, CEIR;
Allen Shaw, PhD, President & Chief Economist, Global Economic Consulting Associates;
John Cordier, CEO, Epistemix

Access the complete webinar and presentation deck here.

Price: $30

November 2021

CEIR released the results from the November 2021 COVID-19 Impact and Recovery Survey with US B2B Exhibition Organizers. Results include:

  • Impact on the B2B exhibition schedule: cancellations, postponements and events that have happened or are still scheduled as planned
  • Impact on event revenue due to cancellations and actions to offset losses due cancellations/postponements
  • Influence of the Delta variant on prompting cancellation of events

This important, relevant and timely discussion was presented by Nancy Drapeau, PRC, Vice President of Research, CEIR and Allen Shaw, PhD., President & Chief Economist of Global Economic Consulting Associates.

View the webinar recording.

Download the abridged slide deck.

Price: No cost to all industry professionals.

Download the full analysis slide deck.

Price: No cost to CEIR subscribers & IAEE members / $99 for non-members

The full analysis slide deck includes further insights into the survey results not shared in the webinar.

June 2021

CEIR released the results from the May 2021 COVID-19 Impact and Recovery Survey with US B2B Exhibition Organizers. Results include:

  • Impact on staffing, outlook moving forward, rate of new hires and staff training plans
  • Impact on the B2B exhibition schedule: cancellations, postponements and events still scheduled as planned
  • Impact on event revenue due to cancellations and actions to offset losses due cancellations/postponements
  • Among events postponed/still scheduled: extent of pivot to hybrid models, what content this includes

Cathy Breden, CMP, CAE, CEM, CEO – Center for Exhibition Industry Research moderated this important, relevant and timely discussion and presentation with Nancy Drapeau, PRC, Vice President of Research, CEIR and Allen Shaw, PhD., President & Chief Economist of Global Economic Consulting Associates.

View the webinar recording.

Download the abridged slide deck.

Price: No cost to all industry professionals.

Download the full analysis slide deck.

Price: No cost to CEIR subscribers & IAEE members / $99 for non-members

The full analysis slide deck includes further insights into the survey results and detail on Dr. Shaw’s updated three scenario analysis on expected outcome for US GDP and the B2B exhibition industry through 2023.

January 2021

CEIR released the results of its tracker survey monitoring the impact of COVID-19 on the US B2B exhibition industry. Results assess the extent of impact on staffing and the 2021 event schedule including the rate of postponements, cancellations and events that remain on schedule.

Cathy Breden, CMP, CAE, CEM, CEO – Center for Exhibition Industry Research moderated this important, relevant and timely discussion and presentation with Nancy Drapeau, PRC, Vice President of Research, CEIR and Allen Shaw, PhD., President & Chief Economist of Global Economic Consulting Associates.

View the webinar recording.

Download the slide deck.

July 2020

This webinar provided an economic update, key indicators to follow and possible scenarios for recovery of the economy and B2B exhibitions industry.

View the webinar recording.

June 2020

Updates to the findings, first released in April 2020, were presented in a webinar as well as new stats on how U.S. B2B exhibition organizers are making the decision to transform their face-to-face event to either a virtual or hybrid option.

Download the slide deck and view the webinar recording.

Link to the webinar recording is included in the presentation slide deck.

April 2020

The CEIR Research team provided vital insights from the baseline survey fielded in April 2020 that were sent to U.S. B2B exhibition organizers.

Download the slide deck and view the webinar recording.

Link to the webinar recording is included in the presentation slide deck.

Future of COVID-19 Research: What’s Next?

CEIR is dedicated to providing relevant and timely information. A new survey on COVID-19 effects is currently being fielded. Keep a watch for updated results on key benchmarks and a deeper look at trends uncovered in these findings.

Insights from CEIR Economist

A Briefing on the Current U.S. Economic Environment (May 2021)

The U.S. economic recovery has been fast and furious. The strong underlying macroeconomic factors should lay a firm foundation of support to the B2B exhibition industry when state and local governments ease restrictions on group gatherings during the second half of 2021. CEIR Economist, Allen Shaw, Ph.D. shares an in-depth analysis on how the U.S. economic recovery can affect the U.S. B2B exhibitions industry.

Download the complimentary report.

COVID-19 Outlook: An Economist’s Perspective

With event cancellations and postponements, CEIR estimates the total loss to the U.S. economy to be $14 billion to $22 billion. However, since this is a transitory event, we expect a full recovery for the exhibitions industry in 2021.

A Note on Monitoring Total and New COVID-19 Confirmed Cases in the United States

The U.S. has surpassed mainland China in the number of total confirmed cases. Total confirmed cases will not reach a plateau in the U.S. until late April at the earliest.

Matchmaking Before & During COVID-19: How North American B2B Exhibition Organizers Use Technology to Connect People and Products

Attendee matchmaking is more important than ever today. It was important prior to the pandemic to help assure attendees and exhibitors maximize their face-to-face (F2F) engagement at physical trade shows. Today, where most in-person events are paused and instead are happening virtually, meaningful F2F engagement is a major challenge. This study provides an understanding of attendee matchmaking pre-COVID as well as what organizers were looking for at the outset of the COVID-19 outbreak.

Download the complimentary report.