In the good old days, when all we had to worry about was a pandemic, you thought most things would get back to how you used to be sooner or later.
fairs, for example.
Mistake.
The Intermot starts this Tuesday in Cologne, and the view of what is to come is sobering.
In 2020, the exhibition about scooters and motorcycles, which normally takes place every two years, had a Corona break.
The virus misery was certainly an accelerator of the progressive loss of importance of the event, but not the cause.
This mainly has to do with the fact that Cologne fell behind compared to the offensive competition event Eicma in Milan and found no way to change that.
It also plays a role that the view is spreading in the industry that trade fairs are yesterday's news.
Not all players see it that way, but important ones are increasingly relying on brand-internal events and slick online presentations that are often boring enough to switch off.
Milan is also struggling with this widespread trade fair disenchantment, but seems to be in a better position.
The misery in Cologne cannot be concealed: gaps in the ranks of well-known manufacturers, few news press conferences of importance, no more 1000 exhibitors as in 2018, but only 500, only three halls occupied instead of five, shockingly bland supporting program.
You can hear it whispering in the industry: Possibly the last Intermot!
A reason to go.
And perhaps to realize that such a trade fair is nevertheless a wonderful place for curiosity, communication, solidarity, self-assurance, touching and comparing and, in principle, not as old-fashioned and superfluous as some think.