The canceled NAB 2020 event will live on in the form of a ‘virtual trade show’ from Cinema5D, according to Johnnie Behiri and Nino Leitner. The team first revealed intentions to hold a virtual trade show in the place of NAB 2020 on March 12, stating at the time that they were approaching manufacturers about the plan.
As with Mobile World Congress, GDC and multiple other events before it, the NAB 2020 show originally scheduled to take place in April has been canceled. The announcement was made by NAB President and CEO Gordon Smith last week, who cited the ongoing coronavirus outbreaks as the reason for the cancellation.
In a statement to DPR, Behiri explained:
‘We were not shocked to hear that NAB was canceled because of the current developments, but we were surprised that no alternatives were offered to manufactures and visitors alike. Other canceled trade show events are moving to some kind of online event but NAB seems unable to do so too.’
GDC 2020 is one of the previously canceled events that is now holding online talks in substitution for the physical gathering. Cinema5D’s virtual trade show will be similar, according to Behiri, who said the talks will take place in hosted, moderated live streams on April 20 – 22 from 9 AM to 6 PM PST.
The hosted broadcasts will be mixed with prerecorded new product announcements and virtual studio talks with various guests; topics will include trends, new products and industry analyses. As well, Behiri says that the team plans to integrate streamed live press events from major manufacturers into the virtual trade show.
According to Behiri:
‘All of this is an evolving plan but we invite manufacturers to get in touch with us via our contact page to share NDAs about new products so we can interview them beforehand and align plans to integrate them into our coverage. We are also happy to consider working together with other online publications.’
Though the virtual trade show will attempt to offer ‘a bit’ of coverage on a broad range of subjects, Behiri says that it will focus on production tech aimed at aspiring and professional filmmakers.
Source: dpreview.com
