NEW YORK — NY NOW, the modern wholesale marketplace for retailers and specialty buyers, was the first major event to take place at the reopened Javits Center. The gathering took place in accordance with capacity and safety protocols established by the New York State Department of Health.
“NY NOW has consistently been one of the Javits Center’s most successful biannual events, and we are thrilled to have it return as our first major event since the pandemic,” said Alan Steel, President and CEO of the Javits Center.
Javits took to NY NOW to showcase the final phase of its $1.5 billion expansion, which adds 1.2 million square feet of event space. A reception was held in its impressive 15,000-square-foot rooftop pavilion, which is open year-round and features an outdoor terrace.
Although the New York International Auto Show was canceled due to the spread of the delta variant of COVID-19, Steel said during a panel discussion during NY NOW that future shows are going strong. “The rest of the schedule has remained unchanged. There’s a continued willingness to meet,” Steel said. He also announced that starting December 1, each show will be able to choose its own cleaning company.
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Jacqueline Tran, the Javits Center’s energy and sustainability manager, was on hand to discuss the sustainability measures in place and its achievement of Global Biorisk Advisory Council (GBAC) STAR accreditation, as well as LEED Gold certification.
Predicting COVID cases
John Cordier, CEO of Epistemix, a computer modeling software company that develops simulations to fight disease and inform policy, captivated executive roundtable participants by describing the event simulation models his company creates.
He said when a trade show or event is held in a city, it doesn’t have much of an impact on COVID numbers. That’s because attendees at an average trade show are 80 to 90 per cent vaccinated and safety protocols are not only in place but also being followed, Cordier said.
The next four months will be difficult. “The total number of cases will increase from September to December, the most critical period of the epidemic. From there, it will be a real descent into hell,” Cordier said.
There will be no need to close borders, perhaps just making masks mandatory will be enough, he said. Epistemix’s goal is to educate state officials using its event simulation data to ensure there will be no closures.
Lori Silva, executive vice president of Emerald’s retail group, said the mask mandate at the Javits Center made it easier for her and her team as they planned to implement such a measure.
The pandemic has had a silver lining, said Steve Corrick, CEO of Comexposium. “The industry has really come together and people have taken the lead in events,” he said. “As Warren Buffett said, ‘It’s only when the tide goes out that you find out who was swimming naked.’ COVID has given us time to reevaluate our brands and our people. It’s been an opportunity to refine and reinvigorate our purpose and core values, and to think about who we want to work with – and who we don’t want to work with.”
Contact Alan Steel at (212) 216-2000 or asteel@javitscenter.com; Lori Silva at (323) 817-0068 or lori.silva@emeraldx.com;
Steve Corrick at steve.corrick@comexposium.com