In past
years at this time I would be writing about technology developments and
industry news I had picked up at the AMTA/AWWA Membrane Technology Conference
(MTC) and the California WateReuse Conference in March but as we all know, this
year these conferences and many more have been cancelled due to the Coronavirus
outbreak. These two shows were one week away when most of the country started
to go into lockdown, which was a shame for the many who had put so much hard
work into planning these events, but obviously the right decisions were made to
not cram so many people together in meeting rooms, exhibit halls and social events during
these times. Also, as there had been so many attendee and exhibitor withdrawals,
it was probably not feasible for the shows to proceed anyway.
Now with AWWA’s
ACE20 and many other regional shows being cancelled through July so far, how
will this impact the water industry in the short and long term?
In the short term, personally, I am missing out on the networking at these conferences where stronger relationships are developed from direct interactions with engineers, water utilities and manufacturers/service providers. It is through these interactions that you can find out about upcoming projects and industry developments well in advance of public announcements. I know Dupont was really looking forward to being the major sponsor at MTC following the acquisition of several membrane businesses in late 2019 and as I noted in a previous post, I was hoping to spend some time with Dupont at the show to see how these acquisitions would impact the relationship with its existing OEM customers. I am sure many similar meetings would have been planned at MTC. In the everyday hustle and bustle of working on projects and chasing new opportunities when you feel like you are always in firefighting mode, these conferences are important opportunities to break away and spend some quality time to look at new technologies, develop new relationships and strategize with current and future business partners.
The Coronavirus
cancellations hit just when the busy spring conference season was starting and
now that season is wiped out, we will have a void of at least five months with
no shows. For manufacturers and consultants with well-established networks I don’t
think there will be long term damage to industry relationships and finding new
projects. This pause in shows is actually providing an opportunity to explore
and utilize video conferencing and ancient means of communication like talking
on the phone. Companies looking to introduce new technologies or enter new
markets will be more impacted where the shows are an important avenue to launch
these companies or technologies.
So far, I am
not seeing a pause in projects bidding, although a few bid dates have been
extended, but nothing cancelled yet. If anything, the bidding seems a little busier,
maybe because engineers and owners have more time to get these bids on the street
and are hoping by the time contractors are awarded the shutdowns will be
relaxed and the projects can break ground in late summer. I don’t know if that
means some projects are being brought forward so that here will be a lull in
bids over summer/fall. I will update on that in a few months.
Long term
there could be an impact on the attendance at conferences. Personally, with less
travel I have been able to work on a few papers, write a few project case-studies,
sort out some projection software issues, and other items I have had on the
backburner for years. It has me wondering if it would be more productive for me
to possibly cut back on some of the shows. I’m sure others will be thinking the
same. There will also be reluctance to travel as much due to the risk of catching
a virus, at least for the next year or two if not longer. For exhibitors, this
pause in shows is probably also providing time for some reflection on the
return they are getting from committing expenditure and resources to these
shows and could result in some prioritization on what shows they exhibit at and
redirecting these resources into webinars, etc – I am seeing a lot more webinars
on new technologies and product information lately, obviously in response to
less conferences and sales travel. Normally I wouldn’t have time to watch
these, but with no travel I have been happy to sign in.
More Virtual Conferences?
We are
seeing some of the cancelled shows now going to be presented virtually and
depending on the success of the online versions, there could be more demand for
this format. If so, the conference organizers will have to work out how to
monetize the virtual offerings to make up for much-needed revenue from the conferences
to keep these organizations going. As an industry we need organizations like
AWWA and AMTA, plus local AWWA and WEA Sections, to be healthy and active so we
have forums for technology exchanges, networking, training, government lobbying,
regulation setting and many other services these groups provide. It is in our
best interests to keep these organizations strong. I also do work on the
industrial water treatment market and you only have to look at how fragmented
that market is in terms of conferences and networking opportunities to really appreciate
what we have in the municipal market with organizations such at AWWA, WEA, AMTA
and WateReuse.
The comments and opinions in this post are my own and not those of my employer.
