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NAB - Pullouts and Will NAB 2020 Be Canceled?


Dan Brockett

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Hi all:

I searched and didn't find another NAB status thread but mods please delete this or re-post if I have missed an existing thread.

I just received the presser that Zaxcom has pulled out of attending NAB for 2020 due to Covid 19 virus concerns. This was the first sizable audio-centric manufacturer pulling out that I've heard of.

 

Not Attending NAB 2020:
Atomos So sorry, meant to type AJA, not Atomos, my dumb typing.

Nikon

Western Digital

Zaxcom

 

Just keep replying and we can keep a running tab on who will or won't be there. I predict if Sony or Canon pulls out, NAB may pull the plug. What do you think? Are you planning on attending? Have even heard some chatter that IBC and CineGear may also cancel but it's probably premature to talk about those shows until we have an understanding of what's happening next month. 

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Don't forget that AJA decided not to attend NAB, and it's the core show for them.

 

My take is that Canon pulling out wouldn't cause NAB to pull the plug. Sony is a much bigger player in that space. Also bigger: Harris and a bunch of vendors we (well, I) don't care about. However, when I started attending in the mid 90s, the whole exhibit hall took a lot less space. Mainly, IIRC, the central hall (since there were no North or South halls), and a bit of the Hilton/Hyatt/whatever it is hotel next door. So even with half the number of exhibitors, NAB could make it work. However, if they have no attendees, the exhibitors might get mighty cranky and want makegoods. And if most of the conference attendees cancel, that's also a big financial hit (presuming the attendees can get their money back (to be clear, I'm not talking about the exhibits-only attendees).

 

And from my understanding of conference insurance (having been involved in putting on a few 5,000ish-attendee conferences), cancellations for things like terrorism and flu aren't covered. So the closer we get to the show, the more money the exhibitors and NAB (and also Las Vegas) stand to lose. So I'd guess we'll have some more clarity within two weeks. But that's just a guess.

 

Also: https://www.isitcanceledyet.com

 

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24 minutes ago, Dan Brockett said:

Doesn't mean they'll tell me, but I can always ask. 


One thing I learned from the current situation and kind of knew all along: a situation may completely change within just a very few days. So whatever they tell you, may not have any value 24 hours later

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39 minutes ago, Dan Brockett said:

I'm at the Sony DMPC in LA next week on the 12th for a workshop so I will be asking around there what the Sony staff are hearing about Sony staying or bailing on NAB 2020. Doesn't mean they'll tell me, but I can always ask. 

I asked this week, when I had dinner with a EU Sony rep. The official policy now is that both Japanese and EU reps are about definitely not flying in. And the off the record gossip is that it is a very political/strategical move to stay or leave the show; indeed companies like Sony/Canon etc are the "showmakers", so if they bail (for sure they still have to pay the invoice though) NAB will get hit quite hard. So for certain there is a whole lot of bargaining and negotiation going on behind the scenes. That said, the EU and JP offices make decisions on a couple of levels; health off course is a priority, but also the continuation of a stock exchange listed company; if a couple of representatives come back to the factory with the virus they have to close the hole shop kinda scenarios are the reason they just make the "no fly" policies. They have to answer to stockholders.

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Here is where to look on any official Cancellation of the show.

Things are changing rapidly  and Covid -19  Cases have been reported in Las Vegas. Today

 

https://nabshow.com/2020/attend/onsite-services/coronavirus-update-and-resources/

 

 

SXSW show in Austin Just pulled the plug and cancelled the whole shebang.   That's $300 Million down the tubes for that city.

And the show was supposed to start Monday. 

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Personally, I think it's madness to cancel everything everywhere.

I even had a client cancel a 3 day shoot next week due to "travel concerns".

 

To put things in perspective:

 

Car Accident Statistics – Highlights

- Over 40,000 fatal car accidents per year in the U.S.

- Each day, more than 90 Americans die in car accidents.

- On average, 2 million drivers experience a permanent injury every year.

- Almost 8,000 people are killed in traffic accidents involving drivers aged 16-20.

- The most common causes of death on the road are drunk driving (40%), speeding (30%), and irresponsible driving (33%).

 

Common Flu:

CDC estimates that influenza has resulted in between 9 million – 45 million illnesses, between 140,000 – 810,000 hospitalizations and between 12,000 – 61,000 deaths annually since 2010

 

Alcohol:

An estimated 88,000 people (approximately 62,000 men and 26,000 women5) die from alcohol-related causes annually, making alcohol the third leading preventable cause of death in the United States. The first is tobacco, and the second is poor diet and physical inactivity.

 

Coronavirus:

Total cases in the USA (as of March 7, 2020): 335

- total deaths: 17

 

Perhaps people who have existing health problems could be recommended to not go to SXSW, NAB etc. instead of cancelling the whole thing....?

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31 minutes ago, Johnny Karlsson said:

Personally, I think it's madness to cancel everything everywhere.

 

In terms of public health, you might be right. But as a business decision, it might more often make sense. As in, what are the odds of attendence being way way down, and how much more money will you be on the line for if you roll ahead with the conference/show/gig anyway?

 

For an NAB exhibitor, if they think the really-important attendees (from a business/sales perspective...say, from a net or truly big post house, dealer, or VER, or whatever from inside and especially outside the US won't be there, maybe the cost/benefit becomes more top-heavy. So what are the odds that those people will show up?

 

So maybe it's a business decision, not a public-health decision?

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1 hour ago, Johnny Karlsson said:

Personally, I think it's madness to cancel everything everywhere.

I even had a client cancel a 3 day shoot next week due to "travel concerns".

 

To put things in perspective:

 

Car Accident Statistics – Highlights

- Over 40,000 fatal car accidents per year in the U.S.

- Each day, more than 90 Americans die in car accidents.

- On average, 2 million drivers experience a permanent injury every year.

- Almost 8,000 people are killed in traffic accidents involving drivers aged 16-20.

- The most common causes of death on the road are drunk driving (40%), speeding (30%), and irresponsible driving (33%).

 

Common Flu:

CDC estimates that influenza has resulted in between 9 million – 45 million illnesses, between 140,000 – 810,000 hospitalizations and between 12,000 – 61,000 deaths annually since 2010

 

Alcohol:

An estimated 88,000 people (approximately 62,000 men and 26,000 women5) die from alcohol-related causes annually, making alcohol the third leading preventable cause of death in the United States. The first is tobacco, and the second is poor diet and physical inactivity.

 

Coronavirus:

Total cases in the USA (as of March 7, 2020): 335

- total deaths: 17

 

Perhaps people who have existing health problems could be recommended to not go to SXSW, NAB etc. instead of cancelling the whole thing....?

 

We don't have a death from Coronavirus here (Greece), yet; but one production has been cancelled a feature film. This is madness.

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28 minutes ago, Jim Feeley said:

 

So maybe it's a business decision, not a public-health decision

I think you are absolutely right.

 

It seems like the news reporting updates on this one every 5 seconds is perhaps causing public over-reaction, which affects business decisions. Then cancelling events like SXSW further validates freaking out... 

 

Whoa - my daughter just sneezed - should I go to the emergency room!? 😂 

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17 minutes ago, Johnny Karlsson said:

I think you are absolutely right.

 

It seems like the news reporting updates on this one every 5 seconds is perhaps causing public over-reaction, which affects business decisions. Then cancelling events like SXSW further validates freaking out... 

 

Whoa - my daughter just sneezed - should I go to the emergency room!? 😂 

Not necessarily, but to be safe, I scrubbed your post with hand sanitizer.

LEF

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It does seem by the day that the panic levels are rising with the general public. We may be entering a whole new 2020 reality for everyone for everything if the new international cases and deaths don't begin to recede. The headlines today are scientists complaining that the WHO won't declare this officially a Pandemic, yet. Lot of politics and PR at work here, I am sure.

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I think the key thing here is har the outbreak in China had such a huge effect, and what China had to do to dampen the effects were very radical. That scared the western world, I mean we couldn't even shut whole cities down like that. 

And no one has any immunity, no one had been exposed to this virus, so potentially everyone can be infected. 

 

Then I think the smart move is to just shut things down for a while. 

 

I mean, sure it might not kill people in any greater way than regular flu, but since everyone's a potential victim (there are vaccines for the flu) that needs to be taken into account. 

 

I'm pretty positively surprised that big events close down. In the darker parts of my brain I thought everything would be churning on and the weakest people would be infected and die off. Maybe not responsible to shut things down, fiscally i mean, but humanely it might actually be. 

We'll see where it takes us. 

 

But I agree that is kind of blown out of proportion. But again, we've seen the flu and we have the defense mechanisms up and running for it. Even though it kills more people, Corona is still potentially able to infect everyone and make a ton of damage to large communities. Not just economically.. 

 

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Wow.

 

 

Adobe Withdraws from NAB Show 2020

 

Each year, we look forward to seeing our video community at NAB to talk about the latest trends and our product innovations. Over the past few weeks, we have been closely monitoring and evaluating the situation around COVID-19 and have made the difficult but important decision to cancel our presence at the show this year. 

 

While we are disappointed, the health and safety of our employees, customers and partners are always our priority. We look forward to engaging with our NAB community through a digital experience in the near future.

 

That's the full text of the announcement (at least at this point). You can confirm here...

https://theblog.adobe.com/adobe-withdraws-from-nab-show-2020/

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Pretty wild.  I guess Adobe are weighing options of "business as usual" vs "The slight chance that someone catches Coronavirus at our booth and somehow proves it while suing us" and would rather the latter not happen despite I am sure losing money on cancelling their attendance.

 

While there were no direct deaths as a result of the Y2K hysteria 20 years ago or maybe all those SF Valley homes with 1950's bomb shelters under their pools (a great place to play as a kid according to my dad and all his neighborhood pals back then), definitely goes to show you how human beings aren't necessarily rational especially during "fight or flight" times.

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16 hours ago, codyman said:

...definitely goes to show you how human beings aren't necessarily rational especially during "fight or flight" times.

 

All one has to do is visit their local Costco to see how the Sheeple are behaving. Fear and fear-driven herd mentality is an ugly thing.

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23 hours ago, codyman said:

Pretty wild.  I guess Adobe are weighing options of "business as usual" vs "The slight chance that someone catches Coronavirus at our booth and somehow proves it while suing us" and would rather the latter not happen despite I am sure losing money on cancelling their attendance.

Or their math ended up taking less risk in not exposing own staff to a tradeshow and international flight situations than selling whatever more contracts to customers. Or maybe they believe they gain responsibility credits.

On 3/7/2020 at 7:19 PM, VAS said:

 

We don't have a death from Coronavirus here (Greece), yet; but one production has been cancelled a feature film. This is madness.

Depends on calculations and available insurances.

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On 3/7/2020 at 6:03 PM, Johnny Karlsson said:

Personally, I think it's madness to cancel everything everywhere.

I even had a client cancel a 3 day shoot next week due to "travel concerns".

 

To put things in perspective:

 

Car Accident Statistics – Highlights

- Over 40,000 fatal car accidents per year in the U.S.

- Each day, more than 90 Americans die in car accidents.

- On average, 2 million drivers experience a permanent injury every year.

- Almost 8,000 people are killed in traffic accidents involving drivers aged 16-20.

- The most common causes of death on the road are drunk driving (40%), speeding (30%), and irresponsible driving (33%).

 

Common Flu:

CDC estimates that influenza has resulted in between 9 million – 45 million illnesses, between 140,000 – 810,000 hospitalizations and between 12,000 – 61,000 deaths annually since 2010

 

Alcohol:

An estimated 88,000 people (approximately 62,000 men and 26,000 women5) die from alcohol-related causes annually, making alcohol the third leading preventable cause of death in the United States. The first is tobacco, and the second is poor diet and physical inactivity.

 

Coronavirus:

Total cases in the USA (as of March 7, 2020): 335

- total deaths: 17

 

Perhaps people who have existing health problems could be recommended to not go to SXSW, NAB etc. instead of cancelling the whole thing....?

Car accidents: Different beast. Society accepted for the sake of individual transort. Reasonable or not, be it.

Common flu: Or rather endemic flu, an issue dealt with as much as possible, med systems accomodated with. New stem breeds are feared by public health ppl and pop up here and then. Pretty nasty, when your local hospital is overloaded and you just got hit by an Arri M18 or your kid fell of a bike. 

Alcohol: Same as car accidents. Some different benefit for potential voters though, but similar attention.

Coronavirus: Total cases in the US: unknown, anywhere else too. But deaths will rise somehow, promised. Most cases have mild symptoms and do not even drive people to go to a physician. 

And if they do, the physician may not even report the case, since tests are not available. 

Potential thread to the individual: similar to a "new" flu stem or more, a temporary overloaded health system. Bad when you need it, and bad for politicians in office.

 

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On 3/10/2020 at 12:25 PM, codyman said:

Pretty wild.  I guess Adobe are weighing options of "business as usual" vs "The slight chance that someone catches Coronavirus at our booth and somehow proves it while suing us" and would rather the latter not happen despite I am sure losing money on cancelling their attendance.

 


I don't think I've read anywhere concerns about being sued? (is there even case law for this?? Am somewhat doubtful, but then again america has a crazy legal system)

Would imagine their concern is about sending a team over to NAB, one gets sick and brings it back home which makes their entire company sick and needing to shut down completely for a month! That would be disastrous for them. 

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42 minutes ago, IronFilm said:


I don't think I've read anywhere concerns about being sued? (is there even case law for this?? Am somewhat doubtful, but then again america has a crazy legal system)

Would imagine their concern is about sending a team over to NAB, one gets sick and brings it back home which makes their entire company sick and needing to shut down completely for a month! That would be disastrous for them. 

Oh yes, there will inevitably be billions of dollars in lawsuits once the dust clears.  A couple has already filed suit for being on one of the cruise ships even though they haven't tested positive for the virus.

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