Having a city that is very charismatic,
helped in attracting attendees. It
has been a successful growth. We
have seen it develop, the attendees
have grown and this venue has
become too small for the show.
We are moving to Barcelona. Everybody
is looking forward to the move. It is both
a sad and a happy phase. We are leaving
a city that we like and have enjoyed but
also moving to another city which is
nice as well and also has the charisma
that can match Amsterdam. We have
twice as much space in Barcelona to
accommodate exhibitors and attendees.
What new additions do you have
to the show for ISE 2021?
As our show has grown, we have
included more sectors and that is a
reflection of where our industry is going.
AV touches everything and we are
seeing technology being encompassed
in what we do as a business. We have
to show that to our customers – the AV
channel and commercial end users – to
show them how AV can be embraced.
We have seen a demand in the Pro
Audio sector at ISE that unfortunately
we have not been able to fully
accommodate. Moving to Barcelona
will give us the opportunity to give
more space to Pro Audio companies.
On the other side, live events is also
a sector which we have touched upon
but haven’t had space for all those
companies to be involved in the show.
Now, we will be able to do that as well.
You will also see a much larger
section for collaboration that can
accommodate all those companies.
Broadcast, Residential and digital
signage will also be much bigger.
We are also putting up a bigger
conference program because we
believe that content is important!
How does ISE manage to grow in the number of
attendees while all other major shows across
the world are seeing a decrease in footfall?
ISE is not just about Mike Blackman,
I have a big team of specialists
behind me. To make this work, we
have a team that looks after logistics
and others that look after the sales,
marketing, accounting and so on.
We sit together after every show
and look at what was good or bad,
what worked and didn’t work. If
it worked, should we continue. If
it didn’t work, should we stop or
change it. We try to improve it!
We are the biggest AV show in the world
and I make it clear to my team that we
must not become complacent, we must
try to better ourselves every year.
That’s the reason why we are growing
and getting more attendees and
exhibitors. We had 200 new exhibitors
at ISE this year. So, this reflects on
our success and the efforts of my
team to continue that success.
On top of our direct team, we have our
associations as well who are offering
certifications, training and education.
All of these make our business run.
How do you look at emerging markets globally?
We are in a group of several shows
worldwide. The AVIXA organisation
is one of our co-owners – the other
one is CEDIA. This means there
are shows in virtually all regions
including India, Asia, North America,
South America etc. So, we are
offering opportunity for attendees
to visit the shows in all regions.
ISE is a show that covers
both sides of the market, both
residential and commercial.
Secondly, ISE happens at the
beginning of the year which is the
start of business for many companies.
Companies from global markets
join the show to do business. They
want to keep ahead of the market.
What are your plans and message for India?
AVIXA has the InfoComm show in
India, a very successful show. We also
welcome Indian attendees to ISE if you
want to see what’s in the market in
the beginning of the year rather than
waiting till September. It is a good
opportunity to meet manufacturers
and other colleagues in the industry.
The
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