After bringing the industry together during its launch week Nov. 9-13, PACK EXPO Connects continues convening consumer packaged goods companies and brand owners with more than 700 exhibitors at packexpoconnects.com.
“This event continues to connect the industry, which was our number one goal in a year when professionals cannot attend physical trade events,” says Jim Pittas, president and CEO, PMMI. “And our exhibitors were remarkable in their ability to react and deliver effective demonstrations despite the technical challenges entirely outside of their control.”
Despite exhibitor preparedness, technical issues kept the live demonstrations from launching as intended on Monday, Nov. 9, but the PACK EXPO Connects exhibitors adapted, and demos returned for attendees looking to see technology in action the remainder of the live event.
Exhibitor Engage Technologies Corporation and its family of companies, including Squid Ink, Eastey, and AFM, attained nearly 1,000 new contacts during the live launch portion of PACK EXPO Connects, according to marketing manager Josh Nelson.
“We were successful in providing live demonstrations of our equipment after switching over to the Zoom platform after [a few] technical difficulties on Monday morning,” Nelson said. “We formed a plan as a team to put our demonstration agenda into an easily emailable format.”
Nelson was pleased with the feedback he received regarding their virtual showroom. Customers were particularly pleased with the interactions and detailed information his team could provide in the chat as the demonstrations were live.
Spee-Dee Packaging Machinery serves as a prime example of an exhibitor who pivoted on the fly to mine substantial success from PACK EXPO Connects.
“Spee-Dee was fortunate to have a successful demo on Monday via the PACK EXPO Connects platform, and then we jumped over to Facebook Live for our remaining demos,” says Dave Navin, president and CEO, Spee-Dee. “We plan to use the recorded content posted on the PACK EXPO Connects platform as a way to continue to build our brand and engage our customers. We have all found new ways to connect with our customers, which provides one more tool for us.”
In addition to demos, educational offerings—many debuting for the first time at PACK EXPO Connects—produced engagement, surpassing expectations. More than 800 attendees tuned in live to the keynote address by Kim Houchens, director, Customer Packaging Experience at Amazon, which remains available on-demand at packexpoconnects.com. The daily Jumpstart sessions each averaged 400 viewers seeking insights into key trends and technologies. And every day, more than a dozen Innovation Stages, afternoon Trend Chats, and Daily Downloads with PMMI Media Group editors attracted high daily participation. The Solutions Room wrapped up the week on Friday with targeted interactions from the OpX Leadership Network, Organization for Machine Automation and Control (OMAC), the Institute of Packaging Professionals, and the Contract Packaging Association.
“PACK EXPO Connects offered a unique opportunity to report on industry developments via a new digital format,” commented Jim Chrzan, vice president, content and brand development, PMMI Media Group. “I’m incredibly proud of our team and grateful to Amazon, General Mills, Bush Brothers and many industry experts who presented. Engagement from the packaging and processing community was exciting to see, and the experience has expanded our vision of the many ways we can deliver content.”
Engagement will continue through March 31, 2021, with on-demand demos, educational sessions and showrooms remaining available as resources for industry professionals in the coming months.
