Mesago announces postponement of additive manufacturing trade show.
Well, that simplifies my travel arrangements for next year.
Mesago Messe Frankfurt GmbH, the German technology conference and exhibition organizer is stepping back from its plans for a US-based additive manufacturing (AM) event that was originally scheduled for April 8-10, 2025. Citing “an unfavorable scheduling constellation and the challenging situation in the AM industry,” Mesago announced that Formnext Chicago will not be taking place.
“After careful consideration and intensive discussions with our key partners, we have jointly decided to postpone the start of Formnext Chicago, which was originally scheduled for 8-10 April 2025. This decision was not taken lightly. We are convinced that it is in the best interests of the industry and the companies involved,” said Sascha Wenzler, VP at Mesago, in a press release.
Although some of the language in that press release is fairly equivocal — including such chestnuts as “economic challenges and geopolitical uncertainties” — Mesago did not mince words about what was undoubtedly one of the biggest factors in the decision: “the clash of dates with RAPID + TCT Detroit is making it more difficult for exhibitors and visitors to commit to one of two important events.”
Certainly, RAPID + TCT does enjoy a homefield advantage in the US: TCT Asia, TCT Japan and TCT 3Sixty in Europe are growing, but they’re still nowhere near the size of their North American counterpart. Still, one can’t help but wonder how close Formnext Chicago came to giving RAPID + TCT Detroit a run for its money. Given a choice between the two shows, the latter is a no-brainer, but for attendees, Detroit and Chicago aren’t so far apart that it would be impractical to attend both. (I was already working on the logistics for myself.)
The most likely explanation is that this decision came down to the number of exhibitors willing to participate in both events or (less likely) those willing to choose Chicago over Detroit. How close Formnext came to that threshold is a matter of speculation, but it seems reasonable to conclude that this was a calculated risk that didn’t pay off, rather than an error in scheduling, as implied by the press release’s comment about, “ensur[ing] that future events are well timed and remain aligned with the needs of the Additive Manufacturing industry.”
“We thank our partners and the entire community for their support and understanding and look forward to working together to shape the next steps for Formnext in the US,” said Mesago president, Petra Haarburger. In other words, Formnext may have lost this battle for North American AM trade show dominance, but the war is far from over.
