Against such a background we should look at Frankfurt this week, with its 15 publishers in a pavilion where 60 were hoped for, and 10% of normal turnout for meetings, and ask – if this after a mild summer with Covid-19 at bay – what chance in the aftermath of a harsh European winter, that London and Bologna can be seriously expected to go ahead?
While it seems everyone who is actually there is playing the same “it’s so important to have an in-person show” tune, those who, for whatever reason, have chosen to participate from a safe distance are likely all playing another tune: what exactly are we missing out on by not being there in person?
Business is being conducted, deals made, interviews notched up, presentations made, and the one absolute certainty amid the mangle of virtual and in-person events that make up the Buchmesse 2021 edition is that the publishing world hasn’t stopped due to the absence of the larger part of the industry.
And as the last days of summer, and the last days of the fantasy that Covid-19 would not revisit Europe this winter, collectively fade away, those industry professionals that did risk Frankfurt, as those who didn’t, will be looking forward to London 2022 and Bologna 2022 with at best jaded optimism.
Because while Frankfurt rode out on the summer’s tailwinds, with notional success of vaccines and the by now usual summer dip in infection rates, it was more luck and fortuitous timing than judgment that Frankfurt went ahead as a hybrid event this year and was not whittled down to another online-only show.
Even as Frankfurt prepares to wind down, Latvia is already in full lock-down, Russia has suspended industry, while in Romania one person dies of covid-19 related illness every five minutes.
Morocco this week barred flights to and from the UK, Netherlands and Germany as infection rates in these countries soared.
In the UK, while ministers are trying to sound confident as a Christmas lockdown looms, the numbers leave little room for optimism, and the reality of the much-vaunted vaccine programmes seems to be following the most realistic trajectory forecasts – that is, helping alleviate the worst of the crisis, but not in any way shape or form the miracle cure many desperately wanted to believe.
The latest as this post goes live is that the UK recorded 50,000 new infections and 115 new deaths. Almost no-one expects things to get better as we head into the New Year.
Against such a background we should look at Frankfurt this week, with its 15 publishers in a pavilion where 60 were hoped for, and 10% of normal turnout for meetings, and ask – if this after a mild summer with Covid-19 at bay – what chance in the aftermath of a harsh European winter, that London and Bologna can be seriously expected to go ahead?
