The Active & Intelligent Packaging Industry Association (AIPIA) has become the latest to embrace virtual events, as the print and packaging industries continue to come to terms with the coronavirus pandemic.

This has seen AIPIA reschedule all of its remaining events in 2020, including its World Congress, which normally takes place in Amsterdam during November each year, into one event known as the AIPIA Virtual Congress. It will run on 10 September, with the physical World Congress slated to return in 2021. Watch a video introducing the AIPIA Virtual Congress below.

The event will include live broadcasts, technology streams, one-to-one chats and virtual booths. AIPIA’s renowned brand owner challenges will also take place virtually this year as part of the Virtual Conference programme.

Alongside the obvious financial and business continuity concerns raised by the COVID-19 outbreak, event and exhibition organisers have had to face up to worldwide restrictions on movement and health concerns nullifying their events. This has been particularly true of those that had been planned for spring and summer 2020, with all postponed and rescheduled to later in 2020, if not delayed until 2021. There has also been a number of other virtual exhibitions and conferences introduced to serve the industry, such as Printing Expo and the FuturePrint Virtual Summit.

Events in the autumn of this year are still largely unaffected by the coronavirus pandemic, although decisions such as that made by AIPIA raise concerns about the viability of large-scale physical events in September and beyond. AIPIA managing director Eef de Ferrante explained, ‘We spoke to the industry’s leading players across every product and service, and it was absolutely clear this was the right decision at this time. The world may soon be recovering from the COVID-19 pandemic, but the effects on business activity will go on for some time. So we decided the AIPIA World Congress is just too important to be spoilt by these disruptions.’

Mr de Ferrante continued, ‘We have carefully researched various virtual event technologies in a very short space of time and come up with a system that allows us to bring all the things you have come to expect from our World Congress, and will include live broadcast presentations, online booths, live Q&A with speakers, one-to-one chats with technology providers and a real online challenge.’

AIPIA chairman Dick de Koning added, ‘Our advisory board, which l am privileged to lead, were absolutely clear that the AIPIA World Congress is just too important, and must happen in a way that allows it to continue helping to shape the future direction of the industry we all belong to. AIPIA is integral to the future success of the smart packaging sector and l urge you to give it your full and absolute support in 2020. The Virtual Congress must come first in your agenda.’

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