The tone and expectations of delegates participating in the 2020 Virtual ICAS Convention were optimistic, but realistic. More than 600 air show professionals participated in the three-day event that was focused on providing delegates with the tools and information they will need to handle the unique challenges that they will likely face during the 2021 air show season.
“Our members are embracing the challenge of organizing air shows and running their air show businesses under difficult circumstances,” said ICAS President John Cudahy. “And they came to the virtual convention intent on getting the information they need and doing the planning necessary to hold their events in the coming year.”
The virtual convention included three keynote presentations, 37 break-out education sessions, five long-format workshops, three award presentations, and five hours of virtual exhibit hall sessions.
Delegates came from all segments of the air show community: 49.4% event organizers (vs. 45.6% in 2019), 29.5% performers (vs. 33.9% last year) and 21.1% support service providers (vs. 20.5% in 2019). The division between civilian and military was very similar to past ICAS Conventions, with 67.2% of all delegates identifying themselves as civilians (vs. 65.7% in 2019) and 32.8% identifying as military (vs 34.3% one year ago).
In a peculiar twist made possible by the virtual format, ICAS members may still register for the 2020 Virtual ICAS Convention. All of the education sessions were recorded and will remain available for registered convention delegates to watch through – at least – the late spring of 2021
