It already was going to be different.
ConExpo-Con/Agg 2020 had complicated logistics to overcome from the get-go. The Las Vegas Convention Center is in the middle of a massive expansion that took out the footprint of the former Gold Lot, forcing companies to relocate. Many relocated to what became Festival Grounds, situated a mile away from the main show. There were going to be waits no matter how many minibuses you threw into the mix.
But no one anticipated it would be this different.
The first widespread reports of COVID-19 come out in mid-January, there was little indication that by March the virus would change the face and nature of North America’s largest construction equipment trade show, even shortening it by a day.
Then there were rumblings of exhibitors pulling out over COVID-19 concerns, which reached a crescendo the Thursday before the show when Volvo Group — including Volvo Construction Equipment and Mack Trucks — said they would not attend. The next day AEM and Volvo CE issued a joint statement saying Volvo CE’s machines would be on display, only there would be no staff present.
On the attendee side, large rental, aggregate and construction registrants started complying with corporate no-travel directives. This was in addition to the anticipated lower international attendance — which during the 2017 show made up 20 percent of the attendees — all which would seem to make AEM’s pre-show anticipated 130,000-plus show attendees non-attainable.
