More Exhibitors Drop Out of CONEXPO-CON/AGG and IFPE Shows

 

Hallite has withdrawn from the CONEXPO-CON/AGG and IFPE trade show, which opens Tuesday, March 10, “as a precautionary measure regarding COVID-19 coronavirus.”

On March 4, API Heat Transfer/TTP announced it was withdrawing from the show “due to concerns about the coronavirus.”

In an announcement on March 6, Hallite said it “will no longer participate as an exhibitor or as attendees.” Hallite had planned a news conference announcing new products on Wednesday, March 11, and said “plans are underway for a web-based presentation.”

Dennis Slater, president of the Association of Equipment Manufacturers, which manages the show, issued a statement on March 6 in which he announced that Volvo N.A. and Mack Truck had also canceled their participation in the CONEXPO-CON/AGG show. “It was a Volvo Sweden decision and not from its North American office,” Slater said in the statement.

Slater announced that four major IFPE exhibitors – Parker Hannifin, Eaton, Danfoss and Bosch Rexroth – have cancelled attendance at the show.

“For IFPE,” Slater said in the statement, “that event has been harder hit by cancellations due to a large international exhibitor presence and corporate travel policies.”

“We will go into the show with one of the largest CONEXPO-CON/AGGs ever,” Slater said. “For attendance, we have added 16,383 new registrants since Feb. 21, when the travel restrictions and coronavirus started to have an impact. That total is far outpacing the last show and also our cancellations to date.”

“Customer cancellations are focused on international registrants and some big U.S. corporate customers placing travel restrictions,” Slater said. “It’s time for us to pull together and open the doors on what will be a very successful, impactful and important exhibition.”

He said that 15,500 sq. ft. of the cancelled exhibit space has been resold.

On Feb. 24, AEM announced precautions against the coronavirus that it will take at the shows. One is a “no-handshake policy,” in which attendees will be encouraged to avoid shaking hands. AEM said it will also place more hand-sanitizing stations throughout the exhibit halls and that public spaces will be cleaned frequently.

More information about precautions at the show is available at https://www.conexpoconagg.com/visit/covid-19-update/