STRATACACHE Reconsidering ISE2020 Stands Amidst Coronavirus Outbreak

January 28, 2020 by Dave Haynes

Seeing a lot of reader activity on my post Monday about ISE and the possible ramifications of the coronavirus outbreak in central China.

I have been checking the ISE site and social feeds and seen no official comment on the situation, but there are outright calls being made to ask Chinese-based companies NOT to send their people over to Amsterdam, over fears the virus in incubation stage may travel with them and then come out in coughs and sniffles among some 80,000 trade show attendees.

Opinions, from what I have read and heard in broadcasts, are all over the place with respect to the severity of this.  Some say it is over-blown and the public should be more concerned with influenza. Others say China is soft-peddling something that’s far worse than being reported.

Dunno. Taking government spokespeople at their words is naive, particularly these days, but relying solely on social media for “news” is equally silly.

There is this: Worldwide, the flu causes up to five million cases of severe illness worldwide and kills up to 650,000 people every year, according to the World Health Organization.

People citing those stats say this coronavirus, by comparison, barely registers – though tell that to the families of those who’ve died or ended up in hospital.

What I do know is STRATACACHE – which would be at ISE with a couple of stands for Scala and X2O – is now evaluating whether it sends people to Amsterdam, or not. CEO Chris Riegel says it may not be worth the health risk, and hopes to have a better go/no go stance by Thursday. I suspect that is not the only company having a think about its plans.

  1. Todd Wulfert says:

    Here is ISE’s official statement.

    Statement on Coronavirus as of today.

    28.01.2020: In response to recent international publicity around the Coranavirus outbreak in China, Integrated Systems Events, the producer of the Integrated Systems Europe exhibition, would like to share the following update with our exhibitors and attendees: –
    ISE 2020 will take place as scheduled on 10-14 February (incl. the Conferences and opening events on Monday) at the RAI, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.

    We are actively monitoring and following guidelines such as additional hand sanitisers throughout the RAI exhibition building as issued by the World Health Organisation (WHO) and the Centre for Disease Control and Prevention, (CEDC) alongside advice given by local health agencies, airports and venues; and will share show updates and changes as appropriate.

    We advise that exhibitors and attendees follow the care and hygiene recommendations recommended by the WHO: – https://www.who.int/emergencies/diseases/novel- coronavirus-2019/advice-for-public )

    For more information please visit: – https://www.who.int/emergencies/diseases/novel-coronavirus-2019/advice-for-public , https://www.rivm.nl/en/novel-coronavirus-in-china , https://www.schiphol.nl/en/messages/coronavirus-outbreak-in-china ,)

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