Back to an in-person market after a two-year COVID-related hiatus, the 2022 Asia TV Forum went “green,” and in the process, for some participants at least, became “grim.” Out went the plastic that used to cover the badges (so now the front part of the badge that displays names and photos tends to turn inward). And out went the printed guide that used to list the exhibiting companies — there wasn’t even a flyer anywhere with this info. These days, in order to find a participating company’s stand, visitors had to scan a QR code, scroll down a list on their phones, and make sure to enlarge it fast enough so that the screen didn’t go dark. To say that it was time-consuming would be an understatement.
The in-house printed daily didn’t list the exhibitors’ stands either since it focused mainly on the seminar portion of the event. Similarly, the list of exhibitors was not posted on any walls, like the conference program was. (At MIP Cancun, which was organized by the same group, RX, there wasn’t a guide, but company tables were posted on a large self-standing panel). But being resourceful, ATF organizers had human billboards (aka people wearing sandwich boards, pictured above) serving as walking “help desks” that dispensed useful information to attendees in need of data regarding the 400 exhibitor stands.
After two years with virtual-only ATF markets, the organizers, the supporting staff, and the local participants seemed to be very excited to finally be able to meet in person again, especially considering that Singapore is so far away from so many. The ATF staff in Singapore was out in full force promoting the yearly TV event, and this time they were reinforced by an outside PR agency (Finn Partners) that helped with the promotional efforts. However, most of the fireworks were reserved for the numerous conferences and seminars.
Even the galleria at the Convention Center was more festive and better Christmas-decorated than during the pre-pandemic era, and the sparse consumer crowd that walked the corridors during previous ATF events wasn’t so sparse anymore. In fact, this time, the number of people seemed to multiply each day.
The market started yesterday with a busy flow of people. Participants without stands were asked to show up five minute before meetings to find tables at the Buyer Lounge. Parts of the conference portion started on Tuesday, and the event will end tomorrow, December 9, after four days at the Marina Bay Sands Convention Center.
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