R+T Digital is over. The organisers did their best, the event was attended by more than 20 thousand people
R+T Stuttgart, one of the largest trade fairs for shading technology in the world, took place on-line this year because of the pandemic. The virtual space offered its visitors 9 exhibition halls, over 300 exhibitors from Germany, Italy, China, Spain, or Turkey, conference rooms, as well as panel discussions. You could see the organisers put their everything into the fair, however, it is not possible to compare it to a conventional off-line event.
First two days in the spirit of innovation
According to the official statistics, 22,000 people from 121 countries visited the trade fair. However, the final number is likely to increase, because the trade fair will be available to all those registered until next spring, when the conventional off-line trade fair in Stuttgart should take place.
On the first day of the event, on Monday, 22nd February, the R+T Innovation Awards 2021 ceremony took place – the recognition of manufacturers of shading, doors, and gates for innovative products. The exhibitors registered over 100 products in the competition, winners were declared in 11 categories.
On Monday, the Day of Gastronomy also took place. Aside from presentations of shading for gastronomy industry, there was also an inspiring discussion of representatives of hotels and restaurants, which were hit by the corona crisis the hardest.
The programme also included innovative products on Tuesday (Day of Innovation), where the winners of the Innovation Awards presented their products in the conference part.
The conclusion of the fair was dedicated to architects
The third day was the Day of Craftsmanship. The programme included the morning Door/Gates Forum and the afternoon Smart Home Forum. The first was a series of short lectures and panel discussions on the topics of automated doors and gates, and the participants addressed the possibilities of today’s smart homes.
The speakers at the Smart Home Forum also included our partners from Somfy, who spoke about the new TaHoma system and the advantages of Smart Home as such. Our partners from Elero and Becker also made an appearance.
The last day of the trade fair, Thursday, was dedicated to architecture. For the first time in history, the Regional Congress for Architecture and Urban Development of Cities, called ARCHIKON 2021, took place as part of R+T.
A large number of interviews, workshops and video conferencing took place during the four days.
We salute the organisers and we are looking forward to next year
R+T Digital was an interesting experience and its German organisers could hardly have done better. They only had a few months to prepare, but despite that, they handled the arrangements flawlessly. Our goal at R+T was to introduce new NEVA products – the ZIP100 and ZIP135 external textile screens – and to familiarise ourselves with the innovations in the field of shading. In this respect, the trade fair definitely accomplished its purpose.
On the other hand, it is difficult for such a large on-line trade fair to fully use the potential of the event, That is why we are on the lookout for spring 2022, when we should (hopefully) meet in person in Stuttgart. We are already looking forward to it.
