The pandemic isn’t quite done with the licensing industry just yet, as organizers have confirmed the annual Licensing Expo in Las Vegas will once again be a fully virtual, online experience.
Informa Market’s Global Licensing Group confirmed it will not be staging a live, in-person conference due to the uncertainty surrounding COVID-19 infection rates and variants around the world, despite the high rate of vaccination in the United States.
“We’ve heard from our industry, and the best way to serve the international market in 2021 is to provide in-person experiences later this year, as well as a rich online experience that everyone can be a part of this summer,” said Anna Knight, vice president, licensing, Informa Markets.
“We’ve all felt the impact of not being able to gather in-person in 2020, and while the speed of recovery is promising, we serve a truly global market,” Knight adds. “Feedback from Licensing Expo customers and partners indicate that August is still too soon for the majority of the licensing community to properly plan and execute participation in an in-person event of this size and magnitude with continued restrictions on international and corporate travel.
“Our mission remains to create the most valuable platforms for our industry to connect and grow, and therefore we have decided to focus our efforts on our virtual experience in August, followed by in-person events in Q4 and beyond.”
Licensing Expo Virtual is now set to take place Aug. 24–26, 2021 as a free-to-attend event supported by a robust online platform that allows exhibitors and visitors to schedule and host meetings, enjoy on-demand content and thought leadership and search and discover a range of properties available for license.
The event’s sponsor, Licensing International, says last year’s event has shown the industry can accomplish its business goals through online events, although the group is obviously looking forward to the return of live events in 2022. “Licensing International’s mission is to serve the licensing industry, help advance our member’s business and celebrate our successes as an industry,” said Maura Regan, president of Licensing International. “Licensing Expo Virtual does all of that and we are proud to be the exclusive sponsor.”
The virtual version of Licensing Expo will offer a variety of advanced online services to further the needs of attendees and exhibitors, including curated matchmaking, digital brand roadshows, the Licensing University, a list of world renowned keynote speakers, and the perennially popular Licensing Excellence Awards.
While the Las Vegas event will now be virtual, organizers say plans are in place to a return to in-person conferences by October this year. The inaugural Brand & Licensing Innovation Summit US will take place live and in-person in New York City on Oct. 27–28, 2021, and Brand Licensing Europe kicks off its live event at ExCeL London on Nov. 17–19, with an online event following two weeks later on Nov. 30–Dec. 1.
Informa also says Licensing Expo will return with a full format live event at the Mandalay Bay Convention Center in Las Vegas, on May 24–26, 2022.