New Zealand’s largest graphics, sign, display, large format print and allied industries event has been postponed until 2022, while this year’s NZSDA Conference, Awards of Excellence and Apprentice of the Year events will move online.
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| NZSDA Sign Expo 2018 |
“March is here and Autumn is near, and yet again some of us seem to be going up and down, opening and closing businesses, which creates such uncertainty in a time when confidence and assurance is needed,” NZSDA said. “With so much uncertainty with event planning in Auckland over the next six months, we regret to advise that we will be postponing our NZ Sign Expo until 2022.
“This decision was not made lightly and was in consultation with our sponsors and key suppliers that had booked at the Expo. The majority, if not all, advised this was the best decision to make for this year as they want to be able to bring awesome on-stand displays and promotions, however, the investment to bring this to the floor in such an uncertain next six months is just not feasible for many.”
The dates for 2022 will be released at the NZSDA AGM in June.
The association’s other major events, including the Awards of Excellence, Apprentice of the Year and the NZSDA Conference, will now be held online.
“This may not come as a surprise to our suppliers nor those that reside in Auckland who are well adept at confronting change as it happens, but for those that reside in other regions throughout New Zealand we do apologise," the NZSDA said. "At this stage, the investment that we need to make in order to hold live events in Auckland is just not feasible this year.
“What we are proposing, with some more thinking and planning, is to present a ‘One Night Only’ event via live stream that will combine both the NZ Sign Expo and Awards of Excellence together on the 8th July 2021. How it will work will be revealed in our next communication and snippets throughout March and April on our social media platforms.
“The event will be invite only, and hope to include sponsors, suppliers and sign makers, however it will be very dependent on level restrictions at the time, the logistics and location/s of the event/s and the investment to put together either one event or a couple of regional events in our four main city locations.”
The conference will comprise of a series of learning webinars from already confirmed speakers, other business partners and industry experts over a period of four weeks throughout July. The AGM will be held via zoom at the end of June.
The 2020 NZ Sign Expo was also postponed due to Covid-19.
