IFA Berlin: no physical presence but a new way not to miss the appointment

It seems that in this 2020 so different from what we could have imagined, all public events related to the ICT sector will be canceled. In Europe, after confirming that Gamescom will be held only online without physical presence in the halls of the Cologne fair, it is the turn of theBerlin IFA which loses its connotation with physical presence.

Messe Berlin and gfu, organizers of this fair scheduled for the first week of September, took note of the decision of the Berlin Senate to until October 24, 2020, prohibit events involving the participation of at least 5,000 people.

Then skip the IFA in its traditional form, but with the possibility that IFA will continue this year in a different form. The organizers of the fair have in fact been working for weeks to find a different formulation.

For the moment, no information has been anticipated, except in the near future a new concept will be anticipated which will allow companies, producers, retailers and the media to meet (we presume virtually) and thus be able to at least partially recreate the experience of physical participation in such a large and important fair for the entire sector. We therefore try not to miss the appointment in full, despite all the limitations that a non-physical participation will bring. On the media side, we expect the classic news announcement press conferences, all in the form of streaming via the web.

Following the press release issued by IFA Berlin:

Berlin, 21 April 2020 – IFA Berlin is set to go ahead in 2020, but with an innovative new concept, following the decision by the Berlin government to ban all events with more than 5,000 participants until 24 October 2020.

As a result, IFA Berlin, the world's most significant trade show for consumer electronics and home appliances, will not be able to go ahead as usual.

The organizers of IFA, gfu and Messe Berlin, anticipated this development and for several weeks now have been discussing a range of alternative concepts.

Planning is well advanced for a concept that will allow IFA to deliver on its core functions for our industry – as a global showcase for technology innovation and an important meeting place for brands, manufacturers, retailers and media. gfu and Messe Berlin will present the details of its updated concept for IFA 2020 in the near future.

Hans-Joachim Kamp, Chairman of the Supervisory Board of gfu Consumer und Home Electronics, explains: "We expected this development given the constantly evolving pandemic and appreciate that we have now a clear regulatory framework that enables us, our partner Messe Berlin, and our exhibitors to make detailed plans for IFA 2020 ".