Things are kicking off again

People want to meet up with one another again and take part in live events. Here in Europe, we have been fortunate enough to experience this since the beginning of June, when the European Football Championship 2020 started. After more than a year of restrictions caused by the pandemic, we were once again able to experience seeing lots of joyfully celebrating people in stadiums, fans chanting and even the familiar Mexican waves, even if the latter were not yet absolutely perfect.

It has obviously become something special for all of us to be there, live and in person, and to be part of the action, not just sitting in front of a screen as spectators. Some of the stadiums may perhaps have been too full, and mandatory mask wearing wasn't always taken seriously, but that obviously did nothing to dampen the mood. It was a clear sign that well filled football stadiums will once again become a common sight in the near future.

But what about trade fairs and exhibitions? Here, too, the pandemic brought events to virtually a complete stop, the car parks on the grounds were abandoned and trade fair halls were deserted. Only a few were transformed into vaccination centres. Exhibitions were postponed or hosted as digital events. During this period, DLG also established its own digital platform, on which EuroTier digital was successfully held in February 2020 and the International Field Robotic Event 2021 was recently conducted.

This functions very well and offers users an outstanding opportunity to quickly and conveniently access interesting specialist information from their screens at home.

But just like with football, there is still a certain something missing. The discussion at the trade fair stand between the salesperson and customer and the cup of coffee drunk together during the sales talks are pretty much the key ingredient in the run-up to an investment. It is precisely these personal encounters and the related, familiar normality that people are yearning for.

Now, though, things are picking up again, incidences are falling and vaccination progress is pleasing, meaning that we will be getting the pandemic under control. Trade exhibitions are now also being relaunched again, subject to the applicable coronavirus regulations and with detailed hygiene concepts, of course.

DLG has also conducted its first international exhibitions in physical form again. These include, for example, AGROS in Moscow in May, with 278 exhibitors and over 6,000 visitors, DLG Field Days Turkey with over 70 exhibitors and more than 12,000 visitors, and AgroExpo Uzbekistan in July with over 100 exhibitors and 3,200 visitors. Incidentally, the digital elements will not subsequently disappear again; exhibitions will emerge from the pandemic in a changed form: in the future, they will be hybrid, i.e. they will consist of a new mix of digital and physical formats. Before and after the physical events, this will offer visitors far more options for preparing and following up on their physical visit, for arranging appointments or for filtering out topics of interest from the range on offer.

The autumn of 2021 is coming, and we are anticipating many other trade fairs in all industrial sectors and markets. For an overview, it is worth taking a look at the DLG International website www.dlg-international.com.

In 2022, we are then expecting a full-to-bursting trade fair calendar, and will be getting things off to a start in Germany with Agritechnica at the end of February, with this unusual date being due to the trade fair's previous postponement. Further highlights in Germany will include DLG-Feldtage, PotatoEurope, DLG-Waldtage and, in November, EuroTier and EnergyDecentral.

So things are kicking off again! DLG and its subsidiaries are very much looking forward to welcoming you live and in person again as a visitor or exhibitor at one of our exhibitions. Take these important opportunities to make contact directly with your network, your customers and your suppliers. We'll be seeing you!