Editor's comment for June 2020

Probably the biggest consideration – and potentially the longest lasting – will be social distancing. It’s likely that Covid-19 will never actually be entirely eradicated much like the common cold hasn’t so it’s a natural presumption that people are going to be less inclined to want to huddle together in large groups.

Although Covid-19 is a new strain, viruses are sneaky. They’ve spent billions of years evolving and yet they’re not technically living organisms – but rather a package of genetic material. And because they’re not alive, they’re insanely difficult to ‘kill’. One expert described them as ‘existing like freeloading zombies – not quite dead, yet certainly not alive, effectively inert until they come into contact with a host cell’.

And yet, as we’ve seen they are one of the biggest threats to humanity. Meteor impacts and nuclear weapons aside, there’s little else out there that can shut down an entire planet like Covid-19 has.

It makes you think about congregating in large groups doesn’t it? I’ve spent a large proportion of my working life over the past 15 years attending press conferences where companies have new products or initiatives to launch. Sometimes these take place at shows like MACH and EMO whilst others have been at factories, facilities and offices.

Press conferences currently are being replaced by webinars. OK you do miss out on that human interaction but arguably the end objective is still achieved. Representatives from a company can still extol the virtues of the brand new product they’re launching to a gaggle of information- hungry journalists. As editors we can see slides and presentations; we can make notes and ask questions. We’ll come away with the same information – but the major difference is that we won’t have to leave the relative comfort of our swivel chairs in the office.

And as part of the same discussion, what about exhibitions and open houses? They too could adopt a more virtual format in some circumstances, but what certainly will happen is that strict measures will be put in place to enforce social distancing. 117,000 visitors attended EMO in Hannover last year. How will we deal with that in a post-pandemic world? But deal with it we must.

At the coal face, companies are already re-designing their shopfloors to accommodate proper social distancing. I’m reading stories about strategically placed Perspex screens being used to good effect in manufacturing areas and corridors, and shift patterns being adopted so that too many people aren’t present in a workspace at any one time.

All sensible. All necessary.