JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) –The Electra Mining Africa Connect week will enable exhibitors to promote their products and services free of charge alongside industry-related informative webinars, media activations and product showcase opportunities from September 7 to 11.

For the first time in 48 years, Electra Mining Africa will not take place during its regular time slot, which is every second year, in the first or second week of September.

Instead, Electra Mining Africa 2020 Connect will be held over those same five days that Electra Mining Africa 2020 was scheduled, pre-Covid, to take place, with ‘every-day-a-themed-day’, a concept that proved highly successful at Electra Mining Africa 2018. (Also watch attached Mining Weekly video.)

“You can log in, listen, question, share ideas and even record sessions presented on the webinars. There’s no cost associated with participation, except the giving up of time and intellectual input into the process,” Specialised Exhibitions managing director Gary Corin told Creamer Media, which is serving as a media partner.

“We’re hoping that even though it won’t be done face-to-face at Nasrec for those five days, this conversation, in its various facets and forms, will help to keep our industry sectors at the forefront of the economy, and stimulate the conversations that will hopefully lead to trade,” said Corin.

As the biggest exhibition of its kind in Africa, the highly anticipated face-to-face event in 2018 attracted almost 30 000 visitors, with 850 exhibitors from 23 countries exhibiting on 38 000 m².

To uphold the spirit of the highly-sought-after show, Specialised Exhibitions is providing the Connect platform to allow stakeholders to engage digitally in real time, entirely free of charge.

“We thought it a good idea to use the opportunity of the week, when the show would have been held in a face-to-face environment, to connect with the various stakeholders digitally, and to pick up the conversation, regardless of the physical realities that we’re faced with in terms of lockdown and various restrictions to the economy,” said Corin.

“We want to use the week as an opportunity to apply some of the technology that we’ve all been exposed to in terms of connecting with people and multipliers of business, and stimulating trade in our respective industry segments.

“That’s really the motivation behind the week, and that’s why we chose the term ‘connect’ ­– it’s to stay connected with our various stakeholders. As exhibition organisers, we facilitate conversations, trade and face-to-face meetings that ultimately lead to business transactions, in whatever form or guise that takes,” said Corin.

Keynote presenters with subject-matter expertise will talk on selected topics, with Safety Day taking centre stage on Monday, September 7, followed by Automation Day, Women in Industry Day, SA and Innovation Day, and culminating on Friday, September 11, with Professionals Day.

Electra Mining Africa 2020 Connect will provide the opportunity for dialogue, with the digital platform deployed in conference-style to address technologies and trends that relate to selected products and services. Factual information will be presented with facilitators mediating to enable attendees to engage on important topics that relate to the subject matter.

Hosting the webinars for Electra Mining Africa 2020 Connect will be associations including the South African Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (Saiosh), the Southern African Protective Equipment Marketing Association (Sapema), the Society for Automation, Instrumentation, Mechatronics and Control (SAIMC), Women in Mining South Africa (WiMSA), the South African Capital Equipment Export Council (SACEEC), The South African Institution of Mechanical Engineering (SAIMechE) and the Southern African Institute of Mining and Metallurgy (SAIMM), which will be aligned with the theme days.

“To be able to share and keep the interest of our respective industries at the forefront of what we do, even during challenging times like this, is deeply rewarding and that’s what reputable brands and events are about. As disappointing as it is not to have the face-to-face event, I must say that it has emphasised the fact that Electra Mining Africa is really a South African brand in the truest sense of the word,” said Corin.

“Whilst we are in no way trying to replace the live event with a digital version, through the concept of the Electra Mining Africa 2020 Connect week, we can continue to create value for both exhibitors and visitor groups during a time when innovation is needed most,” Specialised Exhibitions portfolio director Charlene Hefer stated in a media release.

Please contact marketing manager Leigh Miller at leighm@specialised.com and at +27 11 835 1565 to facilitate easy access to Electra Mining Africa 2020 Connect.