After a lonely 17 months stuck inside my home, avoiding contact with everyone and anyone, ordering groceries online and doing drive up pick ups, limiting family gatherings, not planning any big family vacations...I was THRILLED to attend EAA AirVenture in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, end of July.
What I wasn't prepared for what how overwhelmed I would feel seeing so many faces in one place. Granted they were all very happy, welcoming faces - some of whom were sunburnt of course - it had been some time since I had been around that many people. EAA reported that a whopping 608,000 attendees showed up for the event over the course of the 10 days in Oshkosh. That's within five percent of the 2019 total - a pleasant surprise for sure. To think we were limiting contact with just eight or so family members for the holidays a year ago to seeing thousands at once was quite the shock.
I have to admit, I am out of trade show shape. I kind of forgot how to talk to people. Hey, I was cooped up for over a year with limited socialization. I needed to re-socialized. And EAA was a crash course!
Physically, my feet were not up to the challenge, but I pushed through in order to soak up as much as I could and meet with industry folks I have had the pleasure of meeting before, those whom I have only spoken to on the phone and new faces altogether. By day three I was feeling more trade-show trained and now I am eager to get back out again.
Just remember, if you're just getting back into the social scene of the industry, take baby steps and don't do anything that makes you feel uncomfortable. Keep sanitizer handy, mask up if it makes sense for you and, maybe instead of a handshake, opt for an elbow bump or wave from a distance.
If this first show out of the gate for AMT is any indication of how the industry will recover after COVID-19, I am not worried at all. We have a dedicated workforce ready to go and I have been reading exceptionally encouraging news that airlines are recovering quickly and people are overly ready to travel again, for work and for play.
The next show on the docket for us is the NBAA-BACE show in October. Will I be seeing you in Vegas?
