Conferences go digital!

One sector, however, that seems to be finding it particularly difficult to navigate its way to a ‘new normal’ is the events sector. I write this in the week which under normal circumstances would have seen Team IP&E decamp to the NEC for the PPMA show. Each morning as I boot-up my laptop and my diary pings me a reminder to be there, I can’t help but feel a bit sad that I won’t be walking the aisles, catching up with friends and colleagues and finding out about the latest launches - although to be honest my feet will probably thank me! And of course this comes in the week the MTA has announced further postponement of MACH, long with the co-located DFA Media events Drives & Controls, Fluid Power & Systems, Air-Tech, Plant & Asset Management, and Smart Industry Expo. Originally due to take place in April this year, the events have now been moved from its rescheduled slot in January 2021 and will take place in April 2022.

There is no doubt that the postponement of these and many other events will leave a big hole in the UK industrial sector, and who really knows what they will actually be like when they do eventually return?

As well as the networking opportunities, one of the big draws of industry shows over the past few years has been educational content in the form of conference programmes and seminars. Aiming to fill the gap, IPE’s parent company, Western Business Media, has recently launched a series of free-to-attend one day digital conferences running for seven consecutive Wednesdays across October and November 2021, with IP&E Live taking place on Wednesday 3rd November. Although it’s still early days, I’m really happy to report that we have our first sponsor for IP&E Live in the form of Maintec, the UK’s premier maintenance engineering event.

As well as a comprehensive programme of presentations, IP&E Live will offer delegates the opportunity to network with presenters and representatives from the conference sponsors via a networking area on the digital platform. All delegates will get CPD (Continuing Professional Development) points for attending.

If you can't wait until next November, IP&E is also holding a one day online conference aimed at those with responsibility for managing maintenance and reliability on 17th November 2020; and AirUser Live, a live extension of IP&E's highly successful annual AirUser publication for anyone involved with air power systems, which will take place in June 2021 at the Ricoh Arena, Coventry.

If you are interested finding out more about the various sponsorships packages available for any of the above, contact IP&E’s sales director Rachel Godfrey at [email protected]