NAB Show 2021 Will Require All Attendees To Be Vaccinated

Trade Shows

by Georg GilsteinAugust 19^th, 2021

The NAB Show 2021 is planned to take place in October this year, but to ensure safety and health all attendees and participants will be required to provide proof of COVID-19 vaccination.

It’s been a hot minute since we’ve been to a real-life trade show. With the vaccine being available to more and more countries, we can only hope that this will change soon. One of the biggest events for filmmakers was and still is the NAB Show taking place in Las Vegas. The trade show was initially planned for April of this year but was postponed to October this year.

In less than 60 days from now, the show will open its doors from October 9-13. As the COVID-19 pandemic still affects our daily lives, the National Association of Broadcasters (the host of the show) worked with health and safety experts to maximize the experience and safety.

This will include the requirement of a full vaccination against the COVID-19 disease of all attendees and participants.

We think this is a positive step in reducing the spread of COVID-19 and will provide further details on implementation as well as other safety measures under consideration.

Chris Brown, NAB Executive Vice President of Global Connections and Events

While a bit over 50% of the North American and Central European population received a full vaccination, the world’s average is currently only at 24% (according to ourworldindata.org). Current travel restrictions make it additionally challenging for people and manufacturers outside the US to participate in the tradeshow.

Difficult time for trade shows

This is generally a difficult time for trade shows, as a lot of product announcements or events happen virtually. Photokina was discontinued until further notice, the new Euro Cine Expo was moved to 2022, and many more events struggle to take place this year.

On one hand, virtual trade shows aren’t a full replacement for a real-life event, since being able to interact and test out new gear works best on location. But on the other hand, this enables much more participation of people and companies all around the globe. As there is no need to travel it also limits the risk of spreading the virus across borders.

NAB Show 2021 exhibitors

NAB tries to bring as many companies and people together as possible. Exhibitors include Amazon Web Services, AJA, B&H, Canon, Grass Valley, MediaKind, Panasonic, Ross, Sony, Verizon, and more.

Although we are still hoping to represent our CineD team at the tradeshow to interact face to face with attendees, due to current travel restrictions, we might have to get creative in how to cover all going on and new releases and. But rest assured, we will.

Even though some companies were already listed on NAB Show’s website as exhibitors, they also could be facing problems entering the US. Only time will tell how many companies will in fact be able to participate this year. But despite all challenges, we are not losing hope quite yet that we will bring you news on location in Las Vegas.

Vaccine shot by Mika Baumeister taken from Unsplash

Guys, what about you? Are you planning on attending the NAB 2021 Show this year? Share your thoughts with us in the comment section below.