In a recent email, the IMS 2021 Exhibition Director, Carl Sheffres discussed their plan for hosting the event in Atlanta later this year. He reiterated that IMS 2021 will take place as a physical/live event in Atlanta the week of 6th June at the Georgia World Congress Center, Georgia which is open for business and is currently hosting events of all sizes. There will be a virtual component IMS 2021 that will be held two weeks later.
The technical conference in Atlanta will be condensed, due to the reduction in the number of speakers able to present live. The conference and workshops will span from 7th June to 9th June, Monday to Wednesday. The RFIC conference will be integrated with IMS during these days, with a joint plenary session on Monday, 7th June. The ARFTG conference will take place on Thursday, 10th June. The virtual event will feature the full technical program.
Registration opens this week and delegates will be strongly encouraged and incentivized to attend the live event. Registration fees are reduced for the live event but not for the virtual event. Conference delegates who pick up their badges in Atlanta will have equal access to the virtual event for no additional cost. Additionally, exhibition-only registration will be free for them throughout the event.
The exhibition still boasts more than 300 participating companies. However, existing travel bans have forced some companies to cancel and others to significantly downsize their presence. The exhibition will be reduced to two full days, Tuesday, 8th June and Wednesday, 9th June, to coincide with the condensed conference schedule. A survey will be sent this week to all exhibitors asking them if they plan to staff their booth in Atlanta so that things can be planned accordingly. Unstaffed booths will not be allowed and will be removed from the Atlanta floorplan. As the floorplan may be remapped, booth numbers are expected to change. ISM will try to determine this in time for print magazine promotion deadlines.
ISM conducted a survey this month to gauge expected attendance levels. The survey was sent to more than 24,000 IMS past attendees and generated 1,592 responses. Based on this survey and other data, approximately 25% of normal attendance levels are expected at this time. A follow-up survey will be conducted in April to gauge expected attendance levels closer to the event. As vaccination levels rapidly increase, ISM is optimistic that the attendance forecast will increase as well.
The virtual component of IMS2021 will take place the week of 20th June. All fully paid exhibitors will have the option of taking one of two lead-generating opportunities at no additional charge: a virtual booth in the exhibition halls, segmented by product type; OR a “sponsored talk” scheduled in a virtual auditorium. Exhibitors with a total spend of more than $15,000 (USD) can elect to have both a virtual booth and a sponsored talk. The presentations will be 30 minutes in length and can be in the form of a webinar, video, or other related content. The talks will be scheduled for a specific day and time, segmented by technology tracks, and include an optional live text chat from the presenter(s). All presentations will be promoted and leads from each will be captured and delivered to the presenting companies. In IMS2021, the virtual booth and/or presentation are included in the exhibition cost. A survey will be sent early next week to all exhibitors asking them which option they prefer (booth or sponsored talk). Decisions taken by the exhibitors are to be reported back within a week.
Click here to register for IMS 2021.
Click here to view the safety protocols for IMS 2021.
