It must have been a scary proposition for the folks at the National Electrical Contractors Association (NECA) when the COVID-19 coronavirus forced them to convert the industry’s largest annual trade show and conference into a 100% virtual event.
They pulled it off with a robust online event. The NECA 2020 LIVE event from October 6-8 attracted a total online audience of more than 5,000 participants, 100 exhibitors, 84 education sessions and product demos from 22 companies. The total attendance figure of 5,104 for the live event impressive for a first-time virtual event, but below the 8,546 total participants at NECA 2019 in Las Vegas and roughly half of the 10,223 attendees at NECA 2018 in Philadelphia, according to attendance figures release by NECA. Some regional electrical trade shows like the Upper Midwest Electrical Expo (held every other year) approach and at times top these attendance figures for a live event, but to get that many participants for a virtual event is surprising.
"When we began planning NECA 2020 LIVE, we had great ambitions, but you never quite know how attendees are going to respond to such a massive change," Beth Ellis, NECA executive director of convention and meetings, said in a press release. "We were absolutely floored by the response, with thousands of NECA members and other electrical industry figures all coming together and using our platform to engage with each other in ways they had not done all year."
NECA intends to utilize virtual options for all major events going forward, but there will still be an emphasis made on bringing the entire industry together in one physical location once that is possible, according to the press release.
The mix of educational opportunities at this year’s virtual event was similar to the program at past conferences, with a heavy emphasis on new business opportunities, business operations and the latest technology for the jobsite and office. Some of the exhibitors emphasized these trends, too. It was interesting to see that several of the electrical distributors exhibiting at the event, including Border States Electric, Graybar and Rexel, promoted the packages of pre-assembled electrical products that they offer electrical contractors, while others, including WESCO/Anixter and Crescent Electric Supply focused on how their project management services can save electrical contractors money.
At Graybar’s virtual booth, the company promoted several new time-saving and profit-enhancing tools for electrical contractors with the “Always Be Installing” promotional slogan, including an e-book on prefab work entitled “Improve Jobsite Productivity with Prefabrication,” and a new mobile app for placing and tracking product orders and managing inventory. Graybar said up to 40% of an electrician’s time can be taken up by unproductive tasks like unboxing, sorting and moving products, and with the right project management tools and the use of preassembled electrical products in installations where possible, electrical contractors can dramatically improve their profit margins.
