Trade Show News Network (TSNN) celebrated the community and its professionals during their 2021 Best of Innovation Awards Show. The awards program celebrated shows that have truly shone brightly in the past two years to create an amazing virtual or hybrid event or found new ways to serve and engage their audiences.
The Pathfinder Award was awarded to OFFPRICE, for their unique partnership with MAGIC, and WWIN. This collaboration resulted in one of the first large scale in-person tradeshows, Pop-Up Orlando, held during the pandemic, in February 2021.
The Pathfinder Award symbolizes the resilience in OFFPRICE to blaze a path forward, despite challenges associated with holding a large-scale in-person tradeshow during the pandemic.
With a “stronger together” approach, OFFPRICE, MAGIC, and WWIN, collaborated with their events taking place side-by-side February 9 -11, 2021 at the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando, Florida.
Each of the three events featured state-of-the-art on-site rapid COVID testing before entry, spacious floorplan layouts, appointment-driven networking, as well as limited to no-contact registrations and early open hours for at-risk guests.
Safety was the cornerstone for all event layouts and execution, with rigorous implementation of protocols across all shows to ensure highest levels of safety and hygiene. By coordinating the event location and timing, brands and buyers alike maximized business opportunities in a single location.
Following market disruptions in 2020, this joint effort resulted in the industry’s successful return to in-person experiences, with meticulous safety measures in place, while also driving greater commercial opportunities and business continuity for brands and buyers.
The Pop-Up Orlando tradeshow was highly successful and set the trend for other tradeshows to return to holding in-person events.
Tricia Barglof, Executive Director of the OFFPRICE Division accepted the Pathfinder Award at the TSNN award ceremony. She states, “I was thrilled to accept the Pathfinder Award on behalf of the OFFPRICE team. Our one goal is to always support the retail infrastructure and because of the impact COVID had on in-person events, we were more than thrilled to see the positive turnout for one of the first shows to go live in 2021. Our industry needs face-to-face interaction that builds those important relationships and sourcing opportunities. We proved it can be done safely and successfully.”
