With FABTECH canceled, normal will have to wait … for now

With FABTECH 2020 canceled due to the on-going COVID-19 pandemic, welders and other metal fabricators will have to wait for the tradeshow to return in 2021 back in Chicago. Image provided by FABTECH

Farewell, FABTECH 2020. We will miss you.

In late July the FABTECH event partners released the following statement:

“After ongoing consultation and extensive efforts to identify alternatives to present the event this year, we have determined we have no choice but to cancel FABTECH 2020 due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. We know how important FABTECH is to move business forward, showcase and learn about new technologies firsthand, make new connections and conduct profitable business. We continue to believe strongly in the power of an in-person event to discover, educate, and motivate the metal fabrication industry.  Unfortunately, the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has made holding an event in Las Vegas in November impossible.”

Those words made official the fact that the metal fabricating community would be closing out the year without its signature event. While the loss of a tradeshow pales in comparison to losses so many people have endured over the course of this pandemic, it’s still a poignant reminder that our hope for normal will have to wait a little bit longer.

We were so looking forward to spending a few days dazzled by the loud machines bending, cutting, punching, and welding metal; getting reacquainted with friends, followers, and business relationships; and going from booth to booth in awe of the hard work and R&D of so many talented and innovative people.

Most importantly, we were really looking forward to ending the most abnormal year most of us have ever experienced with some semblance of normalcy.

But with each passing week we are reminded that our return to pre-COVID-19 life will take longer than we had anticipated.

I blame Amazon, social media, and any other entity that allows us to get exactly what we want— news, gossip, household items—almost immediately. We are so used to instant gratification that we actually thought this virus would be here and gone in just a matter of a few months. I vividly remember believing that everything would be fine come August. How very wrong I was.

Canceling FABTECH was the right thing to do, but it hurts in more ways than one.

But you will be back in 2021, and we’ll be there in Chicago welcoming your return with open arms. It will be a wonderful reunion of friends, colleagues, and normality. Who knows, maybe we’ll even appreciate the little things we used to view as hassles – the long lines and high prices at the food court, the impossibly long taxi line at the end of the day, achy feet, stressed vocal cords, and the sheer exhaustion you feel on the last day after running full-tilt from dawn ‘til dusk for days on end. And the fact that 2021’s show will be held in September means we may even be blessed with friendlier Windy City temperatures.

Yes, there are better days to come. Things will rebound and return to normal.

What a time that will be.

Welding Hack help

While we wait for normal to return, we are in need of your help.

If you have a Welding Hack—a simple trick or method that has made your life as a welder easier—you’d like to share, we want to hear about it.

Email me with a brief writeup explaining your Welding Hack, and please also provide a picture or two.

If your Hack gets published, we will send you a $100 Amazon gift card.