Don’t Stand So Close To Me

KANSAS CITY — Remember Natural Products Expo West last year?

Tens of thousands of people jammed into the Anaheim Convention Center, a frenetic roar of entrepreneurs and executives, investors and sculpted fitness bloggers chattering and munching on health food for four days in March.

In a new era defined by social distancing, that scene seems strange now, otherworldly even. Will industry trade shows ever look like that again?

It is a question worth pondering as dozens of conferences are canceled or postponed through the spring and summer and replaced by video demonstrations, virtual showcases and similar solutions. Such digital alternatives are less costly and time-consuming to attend and may offer event planners and exhibitors an expanded reach as the pandemic constrains large gatherings for the foreseeable future.

The Institute of Food Technologists announced it would cancel its annual meeting to be held in July at McCormick Place in Chicago and instead host a “virtual event experience” that will be “an engaging, accessible and inclusive platform to convene our global community, enabling us to connect, learn, share knowledge and advance the science of food and food innovation,” in the words of IFT president Pam Coleman.

The Research Chefs Association’s annual conference and trade show was scheduled to begin April 15 in San Diego. After canceling the event, association leadership pivoted to a virtual meeting featuring a series of live and recorded webinars scheduled to go online April 20 through June 16.