Hybrid fairs (for house building) - your experiences?

However, one should keep in mind that at trade fairs you also get all sorts of ideas planted in your ear, and you see many things that the construction contractor doesn’t even have in their program. Especially given the high popularity of building with general contractors, attending trade fairs is therefore somewhat questionably useful.

Yes, but you see what is possible and where the journey might head in the coming years. Then you just have to look at which of the new ideas you want to implement and which you like or which suit you. So especially as inspiration, I don’t think it’s bad at all to see many new things there. It also broadens one’s horizons a bit and shows that there are still many things out there.

Yes, at hybrid trade fairs you can have both. It’s about being able to visit a trade fair live and virtually. First the feeling on site, the initial gathering of information, inspiration, and then again at home in peace and quiet, virtually. I can imagine that the combination is quite good to get as strong an impression as possible. So I as a regular customer would take up the offer, I can well imagine that for myself personally and think that many feel the same. But yes, in the business sector it may be even more important to concentrate on topics intensely.

This combination is already offered by exhibition builders. For example, Syma has its own meet-hybrid Cube. There you have an area at the trade fair stand for online meetings or you can also live stream from the fair. Such solutions already exist. I haven’t seen any of these things on site yet, but that is simply because I unfortunately haven’t been to a trade fair for a very long time.
In the business sector, this opens up completely new possibilities. For example, you no longer have to fly halfway around the world for a trade fair. Whether private customers accept it probably depends on the respective area. You won’t get much from a virtual food fair as a normal customer because you want to try the things :)

The content is more important than the form.

I think that always depends on the trade fair or industry and whom you want to address. For the end customer, it is certainly very important to have seen everything in real life and also to have touched/tried it.

For the end customer, it is certainly very important to have seen everything in person and also to have touched/tried everything out.

When building a house, there are only pictures and small and large general contractors at a fair. The reputable one, "we build 100/200/500 houses a year," only manages that from the floor plan drawer. The small family business with 10-20 houses can build your unique house; for them, you are a big project and accordingly important. You simply get to know different companies and can later decide with whom to continue. We only got to know our general contractor indirectly at the fair; he only attends every 2nd to 4th fair. Get an overview.

when we had the idea of building a house,
we went to a regional small (about 100 exhibitors) fair and talked and looked around and collected floor plans.
After that, we seriously tackled the topic and have now been living in our house for 2 years.
None of the floor plans from the fair became our plan, but we got ideas and concepts and an architect made our plan livable and logically structured.
So just do it, don’t let yourself be talked out of it and don’t sign anything.

yes, that's more or less how I imagined it. even if the fair is only there to find out how you might not want to do it. but seeing different things and getting an idea of the topic can already help. and yes, I wouldn’t sign or commit to anything at a fair, I agree with you on that.

The type of fair is ultimately just a matter of preference. I prefer in-person. A hybrid fair offers more of both. The content is more important than the form. It’s great for collecting ideas and also for making contact with regional companies for the first time. Not for getting unsettled.

I see the advantages in both variants. I like to spend time at a fair on site because it’s fun and the many impressions create atmosphere. Besides, I like being among people. Virtual is practical too because you can look at everything calmly and you don’t have to be among people immediately if you don’t feel like it. Hybrid fairs are practical because you can first soak up the atmosphere on site and then later calmly click through everything again.

The combination is already offered by fair builders. For example, Syma has its own meet-hybrid Cube. There you have an area at the booth for online meetings or you can also live stream from the fair. Such solutions already exist. I haven’t seen any of these things on site yet but that’s because unfortunately I haven’t been to a fair for a long time.
In the business sector this opens up completely new possibilities. For example, you no longer have to fly halfway around the globe for a fair. Whether private customers accept it will probably depend on the respective sector. You won’t get much out of a virtual food fair as a regular customer, because you want to try the stuff there :)

the cube sounds practical. so you could take that and then the company designs a virtual booth or how does that work? in the business sector that’s quite practical. also in many ordinary sectors. food is difficult though, although if it runs hybrid, it could be accepted. so if as a private person you really use both fair variants at a hybrid fair. first try on site and later let the visual effect sink in again? you’d probably have to try that to see if it’s well received...

the cube sounds practical. so you could take it along and then the company designs a virtual booth or how does that work? in the business sector that’s quite practical. also in many ordinary areas. with food it’s difficult, although if it’s hybrid, it could be accepted. so if as a private person you really use both fair variants at a hybrid fair. first try it on site and later let the visuals have an effect? you’d probably have to try if it catches on...

Yes, at least that’s how I understood it. Maybe you read it yourself on Syma’s homepage or just call the company and have them explain it to you firsthand.
There are certainly areas of application where it has an advantage. You see something at the fair and can then, for example, look online again at how to install it. Because a tutorial was posted online on how to handle it.
There are definitely areas of application, you just have to consider what you want to do, where the goal lies, and also if you have the time at the fair.

Thanks, I actually already looked at it on the homepage and the meet-hybrid-cube definitely looks exciting. It's great when you can later take a closer look at how certain things work exactly. Often it's better to review it calmly once more. I think that's how the details become more noticeable.

Yes, if the respective exhibitor knows how to use it, it is certainly an advantage or even an added value for the visitor/customer. This will certainly continue to hold true even after the current situation. Hopefully, there will still be on-site trade fairs, and then either live broadcasts or recordings of the various virtual offerings. This complements each other well.