They’re doing it again, Smart Energy Council launches second virtual show

While the digital dust still settles on this week’s Smart Energy Virtual event, hosts Smart Energy Council has announced that is set to hold a second virtual event in March 2021.

Speaking at the conclusion of the final conference session yesterday, Smart Energy Council CEO John Grimes announced a follow up event. With his tongue firmly in his cheek, Grimes said that had this week’s conference had not been a success the announcement he would not have announced the 2021 event.

The Smart Energy Council’s annual trade show and conference usually takes place early in the year, and this year had originally been scheduled for April 7-8 and. It was set to take place in Sydney. The event was rescheduled to late September as the Covid-19 pandemic took hold but the in-person conference and show was eventually canceled in April.

Grimes said he was pleased by the level of attendance and interaction at the Smart Energy Virtual event. He reported that there. He reported 2,000 attendees across the two days and 25,000 booth visits.

While this level of attendees may seem somewhat disappointing, it is difficult to know what can be expected, given how new these types of digital events are – particularly in the solar industry, for which in-person events remain common and well attended.

The Smart Energy Virtual event platform did allow for ease of use, and Grimes said that attendees got involved in proceedings. He noted that there were 16,000 document downloads by attendees, and 2,000 videos were viewed.

The event conference used Zoom, and there were lively discussions in the presenter Q&A and group chats. Technical glitches during the conference were few, and the Smart Energy Council assembled a lineup of local industry veterans, researchers, regulators and industry participants. There were a limited number of sponsor presentations and they were largely well integrated into the program.

Having attracted roughly 30 sponsors for the event, Grimes reminded conference attendees that the revenues generated by the event are invested back into the industry through the Smart Energy Council’s activities – rather than going to “foreign shareholders.”