In late February, I attended the 2020 FLEX conference in San Jose. Coronavirus, or COVID-19, had already been a topic of talk, but there was no talk yet of curfews and business shutdowns, not to mention conference cancellations. The tragic death tolls and massive numbers of infected people across the globe had yet to become a daily reality.

There had been a number of speakers who canceled their presentations at 2020 FLEX, and quite a few badges were not picked up. LOPEC 2020 was still on at that point and was canceled on March 6.

Falk Senger, managing director of Messe München and the executive who oversees LOPEC, issued this statement:

“In close cooperation with our LOPEC partner OE-A, it is unfortunately not possible for us to successfully hold the event this year for participants of the Exhibition and Conference. Canceling LOPEC 2020 was a painful decision. By making it, we have assumed our responsibility for the health of our exhibitors, conference speakers and visitors.”

A tremendous amount has changed since then. Major trade shows for the flexible and printed electronics industry, including LOPEC 2020, have been called off. Drupa 2020, the world’s largest printing show, was scheduled for June in Messe Dusseldorf, and some leaders in flexible and printed electronics were planning on attending. This show, too, was canceled.

LOPEC 2020 will be canceled until March 23-25, 2021; the OE-A has said that companies are welcome to join the organization’s pavilion at electronica 2020 in November. Drupa will be held in 2021 as well.

Right now, it is clear that social distancing, or separation, is critical to try to contain the spread of the virus. It is also clear that the organizers of these shows recognized that the safety of attendees is of paramount importance. Now that federal, state and local governments have mandated that no gatherings of more than 50 people be allowed, these shows would have been canceled.

NextFlex is a typical industry leader that has been impacted.

Dr. Malcolm J. Thompson, NextFlex’s executive director, announced March 17 that NextFlex has closed its San Jose operations.

“To stop the spread of the Coronavirus, Bay Area health authorities announced a ‘shelter in place’ order effective Tuesday, March 17 which affects six Bay Area counties including Santa Clara County where NextFlex is located,” he said. “Due to this order, the NextFlex staff will be working remotely for the next three weeks and the NextFlex office and Technology Hub will be closed to visitors and staff. Our utmost concern is for the safety of our employees and our community, and to continue working in support of our members to the degree possible.”

As for Rodman Media, I am happy to say our employees are safe and working from home. We will continue to update you on any industry happening or conference postponements. I personally am thankful for the medical industry for all it is doing for us, which is plenty –  my wife is a nurse in a major regional hospital here, and at their own risk, they are doing all they can to treat infected patients – and I’ll add that there are ways to help, including donations. These are a couple that come to mind:   

American Red Cross Blood Services

COVID-19 Solidarity Response Fund for WHO

COVID-19 has been devastating. We wish all of you good health and safety in these difficult times.