PrefabNZ recently announced that it would take the annual CoLab conference online for 2020. The original event was planned to be held in Wellington on 11 June, but will now be available for anyone to attend via a virtual conference. 

PrefabNZ CEO Scott Fisher cited the rapid changes due to the unfolding COVID-19 pandemic as a reason to move the conference online. “We had such good support from international keynotes and domestic speakers and our partners, that it would have been an opportunity missed to deliver really timely information to the industry,” he says.

“The outlook around the construction sector is still really positive,” he says, “particularly around delivering productivity and innovation and speed to completion.” 

The online format will allow participants more time and (virtual) space to take in information, as well as the opportunity to return to content later. It also gives people from further afield to attend, or people who wouldn’t normally be able to get to Wellington to attend a physical event. “We have a lot of followers globally who are interested in what New Zealand is doing. This new platform that COVID-19 has forced us to embrace allows us to open the door far more than we otherwise could. ”

Fisher assures that the virtual CoLab will be much more than just a webinar. “Attendees are free to come and go to listen to speakers, as they can at a normal conference. We will have break out groups; we will have different rooms that will allow participants to get the information that they’re particularly interested in. It will give us a really good opportunity for Q&A sessions as well.”

“We’re going to come out of a few months of a very disruptive time in our lives. The conference will be well-timed for the industry to come together.”

International speakers will include Danny Forster, the New York architect behind the world’s tallest modular hotel, and UK-based Gaynor Tennant, who will be sharing offsite solutions to multi-residential projects. 

Attendees will receive a library of resources and pre-recorded talks ten days before conference day, along with discussion boards opening up to participants. Then, on 11 June, a full day of live sessions will take place, along with breakout discussions and workshops. 

As the effects of the COVID-19 restrictions on movement are felt for many months to come, a virtual CoLab 2020 may be the first of many events moving to an online platform.

“It will be interesting to see what happens going forward. Even when we get out of COVID-19 lockdown, international travel will still be disrupted. But, the team is working really hard and we’re really excited about delivering something like this for the first time.”

Find out more and register to attend at colabprefabnz.com.