FeuerTrutz: On site and digital

June 9, 2021

International Fire Buyer gains a greater understanding of what to expect from this years FeuerTrutz event, which will be held in person and in digital

It’s just under six months until the 10th anniversary of FeuerTrutz, the International Trade Fair with Congress for Preventive Fire Protection. The fire protection community’s eager anticipation of their industry gathering is reflected in the registration numbers to date: more than 110 exhibitors have already made a firm booking. The modified concept developed by organisers NürnbergMesse and FeuerTrutz Network GmbH provides plenty of options for taking part.

What is FeuerTrutz?

FeuerTrutz is Europe’s most important event for preventive fire protection, combining solutions for passive, active and organisational fire protection. At this event in Nuremberg, planners, experts, architects, building engineers, staff from official agencies and fire prevention authorities and fire officers can obtain specific information and discuss innovative solutions and products for fire protection and fire control. At the parallel Fire Protection Congress, organised by FeuerTrutz Network, prominent experts will speak on the key current issues relating to passive, active and organisational fire protection.

How has FeuerTrutz been impacted by covid-19?

“We have made the decision to postpone FeuerTrutz to October 2021. The new event will be a two-track combination of an online and an in-person event that had already been planned for June, to give everyone the chance to attend FeuerTrutz digitally if they were unable to attend in person because of travel restrictions. Following the latest decisions to extend the lockdown, however, and in view of the current coronavirus situation, it is becoming increasingly clear that a June event would have to be online only. The organisers have therefore decided at this early stage to postpone FeuerTrutz until October, to enable customers to plan reliably and give them a better prospect of a live event at which they will be able to interact in person once again.

“We want to offer our customers the best possible in-person event for FeuerTrutz with its traditional sense of ‘experience’, and that’s why we’ve put it back to autumn. The sector urgently needs a return to personal interaction. To ensure maximum flexibility and the ability to plan reliably, we’re retaining the two-track approach, including the opportunity to participate online. The focus will be on the physical event, with sophisticated hygiene procedures in place, and the digital activities will be offered as an add-on. That way we can ensure everyone is able to take part in FeuerTrutz 2021,” comments Stefan Dittrich, Director FeuerTrutz at NürnbergMesse.

How have you tackled a digital and on-site event?

“This year, participants will be able to choose between an on-site event in Nuremberg, a digital-only platform, or a mixture of both. It’s great to see that our flexible concept for taking part in FeuerTrutz is going down so well with exhibitors. This shows that industry players are extremely keen to finally exchange ideas and information again and present their new products. Our preparations are currently in full swing and we can hardly wait to welcome new and familiar faces on 18 and 19 October,” says Stefan Dittrich, Director FeuerTrutz at NürnbergMesse.

What will be available on live stream?

“The parallel fire protection congress organised by FeuerTrutz Network will also be broadcast additionally as a live stream. One of the main congress themes in 2021 is ‘Solutions for Special Buildings’. Experienced practitioners will outline state-of-the-art solutions to problems and avoidable errors for various types of special building.

“We are looking forward to a lot of interesting topics relating to current challenges and some lively debate,” says André Gesellchen, Head of Programme Management at FeuerTrutz Network.

You hosted FeuerTrutz 2020 in digital form, how did that work?

“Trade fairs work even online. FeuerTrutz Digital, held on 30 September and 1 October, was ample proof of that. NürnbergMesse and FeuerTrutz Network pulled out all the stops to replicate all aspects of the Trade Fair for Preventive Fire Protection and the accompanying Fire Protection Congress in digital form – with complete success. A good 38,800 chat messages and hundreds of video calls showed just how intensively the sector used the event to interact and network. In total, about 1,500 participants learned about the latest product developments from 73 exhibitors, made new business contacts and engaged with each other, supported by a smart “matchmaking” system.

“We started getting positive feedback from both exhibitors and visitors while the event was still running, which made us very happy. That showed us that a trade fair in the form of a digital platform can be a success. There was a lot of praise for the company profiles, and especially for the opportunities for contact, as well as the quality of the various expert lectures by the exhibitors. We are impressed by how intensively the sector made use of contact opportunities like chats and video calls. We were able to provide the fire protection community with a valuable platform for their dialogue and information needs. But at the same time we are very much looking forward to the next in-person gathering here in Nuremberg,” says Stefan Dittrich, Director FeuerTrutz.

André Gesellchen, Head of the Fire Protection Programme at FeuerTrutz Network, adds: “The digital Fire Protection Congress attracted more than 700 participants – that’s an amazing result. We have also received positive feedback from the participants about the successful digital realisation of the congress. There was major interest in the 40 independent lectures on all aspects of preventive fire protection and lively participation to all lectures in the chat from the participants. All a wealth of highlights, new solutions and trends awaited discovery among the broad thematic blocks of fire protection in hospitals, fire protection in timber construction, organizational fire protection, fire protection concepts, new guidelines and legal aspects, engineering methods and plant technology.”

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