Koelnmesse is clearly committed to “Imm Cologne” 2021 – but due to the Corona pandemic, it will be a special edition and in a hybrid form, with a clearly focused exhibition section and a digital platform. To mark the start of the year, the event will take place on four event days from Wednesday to Saturday from 20 to 23 January (previously seven days). At the same time, “Livingkitchen” 2021 will be suspended. However, the kitchen theme will be integrated into the special edition. “Our goal is clearly defined, even against the background of the challenging general conditions, to make ‘IMM Cologne’ possible next January. Based on a compact exhibition area and enriched with digital networking and presentation options, ‘Imm Cologne’ will provide the furniture industry with important impulses for the new business year,” explains Oliver Frese, COO of Koelnmesse. “With a comprehensive hygiene and protection package, exhibitors and visitors alike can move around the exhibition centre safely and concentrate on their business. We also offer our exhibitors a special edition of precisely tailored and innovative stand construction solutions that enable efficient and inspiring trade fair participation,” adds Matthias Pollmann, Executive Vice President of Koelnmesse.

Together with the Creative Director of “Imm Cologne” Dick Spierenburg, the team around Matthias Pollmann and Claire Steinbrück has developed various stand construction concepts and event formats. “With the new stand concepts, we offer companies a well-plannable framework for a first-class presentation on a compact area, and can thus bring together the most diverse ranges of interior design and kitchen themes,” explains Claire Steinbrück, Director of “Imm Cologne”. “Smaller areas and open stand design also means fewer stand personnel and lower costs. Nevertheless, the brands can still present themselves individually. The result is efficient business with maximum risk reduction”.

With the new “Imm@home” platform, the fair is expanding the business opportunities for exhibitors. It can also reach a wide range of visitors who are currently unable to travel to Cologne due to the Corona pandemic. This hybrid approach gives the special edition of “Imm Cologne” a wide range of additional opportunities for interaction. At “Imm@home”, visitors can engage in virtual exchanges with the industry and network with relevant contacts. Companies also have the opportunity to present their products virtually in their own online sessions.

“In the next few days we will see how positively our special edition concept is received by the entire market. I look forward to when we reopen the doors on 20 January 2021,” emphasises Matthias Pollmann.