April 20, 2010 - As many of you know, Hannover Messe is taking place this week in Hannover, Germany. As one of their US-based media partners, three of us from Automation.com had plans to be there to cover the show. Unfortunately, the Iceland volcano had other plans. Our flights were scheduled to depart last Friday evening.
About mid-morning on Friday, we learned that our flights had been canceled and the soonest we could reschedule was Wednesday, April 21st – not arriving in Germany until Thursday and too late to make the trip worthwhile. And that was before the airlines proceeded to cancel flights on Saturday, Sunday and Monday. As a result, we canceled our trip. It is a HUGE disappointment for us! Hannover Messe is one of the most significant events in the industrial automation industry and we wanted to be there so we could share the show with our readers. We weren’t the only ones who couldn’t make it to Germany.
The German Chancellor, Angela Merkel, and the Italian Prime Minister, Silvio Berlusconi, were supposed to open the event at the opening ceremony on Sunday evening. Neither of them could get to Hannover either. The list of people who couldn't get there goes on and on. Even with closed airspace and volcanic ash in the air, the show has gone on.Since we can’t be in Hannover, we will do the best we can to cover the event remotely.
Unfortunately, information will be delayed because we are at the mercy of our contacts who are on location, but busy with meetings and show activities. The opening ceremony was recorded and can be viewed online on the Hannover Messe website .Over the next few days and weeks we will be communicating with our Hannover Messe constituents and exhibitors to get highlights from the show.
You can find updates from Hannover Messe on our dedicated portal at: www.automation.com/search?q=HANNOVER+MESSE .We are already talking with Hannover Messe about plans for next year. Stay tuned! Rick ZabelVice President, Publisher, Editor