Filling the Conference Gap

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.