Finally ACHEMA is #back2live – with eye contact

Maintaining contacts, exchanging information – that's also possible virtually. What's missing online are the casual encounters and discoveries, face-to-face conversations where you look the other person in the eye, exhibits to see and experience, the reactions of the audience, and more. "A trade show in presence improves the level of communication," says Asadullah Masthan Abusali Mohideen of 3D MicroPrint GmbH. "For us, live events are very important to showcase our technologies and feel the direct reaction of customers."

Dr. Simone Schopf of the Fraunhofer Institute FEP also believes that virtual trade shows cannot replace on-site meetings. The response to virtual presentations has been rather limited. A trade show simply lives from visitor traffic, conversations and contacts. The Fraunhofer Institute FEP decided to have a booth at ACHEMA for the first time this year because the trade show is so large and well-known. "My first impression is very positive," she says. "We already had a lot of visitors at the booth in the morning. For the week, I hope to make many new contacts with potential customers and project partners. We want to increase our visibility and show, that Fraunhofer FEP is also active in biotechnology, for example." If time permits it, she also wants to look around herself to collect new ideas and impulses for her own work.

"It's nice to be back among people." Dr. Simone Schopf, Fraunhofer Institute FEP

KROHNE Messtechnik GmbH takes advantage of both worlds at its booth. Here, interested parties can also connect virtually. Employees use a camera and headset to explain the exhibits. In this way, customers can be served who cannot make it to the trade show on time or cannot be on-site due to travel restrictions. A presence at ACHEMA as a leading trade show is still of great importance for the company. "We have also had good experiences with virtual events. Some things can even be explained better online because we can look inside the plants in the virtual exhibit," says Thomas Gabler of KROHNE. "What's missing online are the conversations. The interest of the customers is there. Today, we have already had many good conversations at the booth."

Thomas Laubenstein from DENIOS SE has a very special connection to ACHEMA. He had his first working day at ACHEMA in 1994 with his then new employer. Since then, he has not missed an ACHEMA and is attending for the tenth time this year. "You sometimes postpone your vacation for that," he says. "The show is so exciting and the talks so good that I would miss it too much. ACHEMA is almost like meeting friends. You arrive here and feel right at home. "The appearance of DENIOS has always changed. At every ACHEMA there was something new to show. Over all the years, the exhibition has always been exciting and has retained its importance and quality”, says Thomas Laubenstein. Compared to other trade fairs, ACHEMA is the most important one for him, the leading trade show. He particularly appreciates the quality of the technical discussions and the valuable contacts.

A tour of the halls shows that these examples are not exceptions. A buzz of voices hangs over all the exhibition groups. Some have exhibits explained to them, others are engrossed in conversation, business cards are exchanged. ACHEMA is #back2live and with it the trade show feeling.