MIKE BLACKMAN
INTEGRATED SYSTEMS EUROPE
Tell us a little bit about how the show
started initially
The show came about from three
American based associations with
international membership. They
wanted to put a show together for
the European market place to bring
the buyers and sellers together.
They approached me and wanted me
to organize it. The first ever show
was in Geneva and the turnout was
so-so with about 120 exhibitors and
3500 attendees. It was good enough
to keep trying. We realized that the
location was not the best and people
told us that Amsterdam was a good
place for this. We moved here and
the show just took off.
There are two things: One, we are
in an industry that is growing and
secondly we are doing what the
industry wants and we are doing it
right. Every time we are successful,
more people want to be involved
and hence we keep growing.
You have AR, VR, Projection, Display,
Audio and more under one show.
What exactly are you trying to achieve
by bringing them all together in
one place?
Firstly, when we started we were a
small show and we decided to mix
everything up because won’t it be
good if someone only interested in
Pro Audio falls across Projection
because he is next to a display
manufacturer. It introduces people
to different aspects. Initially with
120 exhibitors, it was easy to see the
whole show in half a day but now
with over 1300 exhibitors, you can’t
see the show even in 4 days. We try
to structure a bit but the core value
is that the attendees need all these
different disciplines. For instance,
if AV come together, it’s a user
experience. Augmented Reality is
just another way of projection. So
that’s why it all fits together.
How do you intend to improve visitor
experience at ISE?
We
constantly
work
on
improvement. Next year, you will
see more programs, conferences,
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more visitor focussed experiences.
One of my ideologies is that, the
show is like a magazine. As an
organizer, we are the ones that
should supply the Editorial and
that means providing Education,
Information that is unbiased
and neutral. Things that are not
manufacturer focussed. And this
is what we are doing for visitor
experience.
What would you tell people in India
about the show?
We have a show in India, the
InfoComm show that happens
in September. It doesn’t cover
the residential sector but only
Commercial. But we are in an
industry that is constantly moving.
Many of the manufacturers have
decided to premier their products
here at ISE and that’s the biggest
value we provide to them.
Indian market is a very important
market and the way it is developing
is great!
What are your plans for 2019 show?
It’s a 15 months process for us in
terms of our work. Our Sales team
starts the planning in October for
the next year. Our top 50 exhibitors
reserve their space one month
before the show. In fact, we are
almost sold out for 2019! It is a
constant process.
What’s the success of ISE?
We involve the industry at various
levels. At the top level, we have an
executive board with association
people, people from boards of
association and three exhibitors
and they have direct insight and
can help at strategic level.
Next level we have an Advisory
committee made up of Exhibitors
with about 25 members and is a
cross section of the whole show,
some audio, video, small and large
companies and different companies.
We ask them for inputs and direction
on where we should be going. With
that we know what the exhibitors
want and can focus on that.