The organisers of the IBC Exhibition and Conference have confirmed they are holding fallback dates in December, should the Amsterdam event be unable to take place in its normal September slot (September 10-13).
In an online media briefing on Wednesday, CEO Mike Crimp said he was “very optimistic” that IBC would take place in September and that discussions were under way with the RAI venue over the impact of any required social distancing.
A decision on whether IBC 2021 will use its regular September reservation or move to the December dates (December 3 to 6) will be made be the beginning of June.
Crimp admitted that IBC 2021 is likely to be smaller than in recent years because of global travel restrictions. “the assumption we’ve made is that Europe will be open because the vast majority of our business comes from within these borders”.
The event itself will adopt a hybrid model with live streaming from the show including presentations from a “commercial stage”. However, some keynotes will be ‘ringfenced” and not streamed live.
The team at IBC are now watching what happens with other events, such as Mobile World Congress, which scheduled to take place in Barcelona between June 28 and July 1.