The Ultra cold weather (-12 degrees Centigrade) Imagine how it feels for us, Israelis…) Combined with the 5th or whatever Corona wave it is now, is not a good starting point for NRF. Even the most brave and optimistic usual players in this business where somewhat gloomy, at least they called the event NRF 2022, and not 2020 or 2021, a common practice that I never understood, after the previous cancellations.
And still… People came. Some of the “Usual suspects” familiar faces were popping up in the corridors. It wasn’t crowded, we estimate that the number of visitors dropped by 75% of the original plans, and the number of companies presenting their goods, dropped by more than 50% – and still, it was on! The most serious companies sent representatives, people came from Europe and given the starting point, it was more optimistic than I expected.
We at NoviSign enjoyed our fruitful and close collaboration with Pricer and we have proven once again that our combination of dynamic Signage, enhanced by the Pricer power, creates real traction and genuine interest.
Internally, NoviSign is happy that we invested the time and resources. The global team members met in person after long “Zoom” periods. We managed to meet some of our strongest partners in US, again, with no zoom, like it used to be and we tend to forget. Shaking hands (with Alcogel!) and having a drink (with Alcohol!) was a real valuable part of this NRF.
And let’s not forget the other advantages of non-crowded NRF show – easy Ubers, Nicer people, no long lines and a lot of smiling faces, beneath the mask…
We are optimistic for next year, both from Covid and business perspective.
Gil.