Another year, another ISE. It only seems like yesterday that I was preparing to fly out to Geneva in 2004 for the show’s debut – a modest event with 120 exhibitors and 3,500 attendees. Back then, I was about to launch my self-published, residential-facing B2B title, Home Cinema Digest (HCD), timed to make its debut at ISE.
How times have changed. HCD is long gone, limping on for a few years after the financial crash delivered its initial body blow. The internet is now the ubiquitous force none of us could have fully envisaged. And we’re all walking around with powerful, AI-driven computers – it’s worth remembering that the iPhone didn’t launch until 2007.
AV itself has evolved just as dramatically. Best-in-class solutions across both the professional and residential sectors now deliver performance and integration we could only have dreamed of two decades ago. In many respects, AV has finally come of age.
And what of ISE? Driven by the determination of Mike Blackman, it continues to grow year on year. ISE 2026 is set to be the biggest edition yet, with more than 1,700 exhibitors and a projected 90,000 attendees. You can explore ISE’s journey in more detail in our exclusive interview with Blackman, alongside this issue’s in-depth show preview and interviews with industry movers & shakers discussing their previous ISE experiences and hopes for ISE 2026.
Elsewhere, we look at how conference room planning is shaping up, and at the increased role audio is playing across enterprise. You can access the digital version of Installation below – and if you’re visiting ISE 2026 and are yet to subscribe to AV’s leading publication (come on – what are you waiting for?!), why not grab a printed copy from the magazine racks in Congress Square.
See below for the January / February edition. You can subscribe for free here and also to the daily newsletter here.
