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ISE 2021 will be cancelled as an in-person event if “circumstances impact” organisation’s ability to host; decision by March 1

Integrated Systems Events managing director Mike Blackman has confirmed that although ISE 2021 remains scheduled to "open live and online" on June 1-4 in its new home at the Fira, a decision will be made in the next few weeks as to its viability as a physical event, with rescheduling not an option

ISE is still scheduled to take place in June, at the Fira, Barcelona, unless “circumstances” force its cancellation as an in-person event for 2021, with a decision set to be made by March 1, says Integrated Systems Events managing director Mike Blackman.

Responding to AVIXA’s announcement that InfoComm 2021 was rescheduling to October, Blackman released a statement reiterating that ISE 2021 remains scheduled to “open live and online” on 1-4 June 2021 in its new home at the Fira, Barcelona – whilst confirming a deadline of March 1 for potentially cancelling physical attendance. “If circumstances impact our ability to host an in-person event and we are forced to cancel this element of ISE, we will make this decision by 1 March,” said Blackman.

Later, he confirmed that this year’s ISE would indeed be cancelled as a physical event rather than rescheduled, if the organisation was forced to accept that Barcelona couldn’t go ahead. “Categorically, there is no point in postponing. If we move, it means we are moving to February 2022,” he was reported as saying, explaining that rescheduling this year’s event would be too disruptive to the industry.

In the event of cancellation of the physical event, Blackman reportedly said that Integrated Systems Events might consider running smaller-scale satellite events in key cities alongside a virtual ISE, although the organisation’s priority is “safety for our customers”.

ISE attendees were invited to ‘have their say’ on ISE on February 3, when the organisation distributed an e-survey. Questions included ‘are you personally ready to fly again?’ and ‘do you feel ready to attend live / physical trade shows again?’. Presumably the results of this survey will inform decisions made by March 1.

Mike Blackman’s full statement – released on Thursday in response to AVIXA’s InfoComm rescheduling statement – is published in full below:

Dear ISE community,

Following today’s announcement that the InfoComm 2021 show will now take place in Orlando in October 2021, we want to confirm that Integrated Systems Europe, remains scheduled to open live and online on 1-4 June 2021 in its new home at the Fira, Barcelona.

Whilst we recognise there continue to be challenges ahead, we are in touch with government and the relevant health authorities to constantly monitor the situation. None of us can predict how the situation will look in June, but we are hopeful that by the second quarter of 2021 we will see the world return to a new ‘normal’ with vaccines being rapidly delivered in many countries around the world.

We understand our exhibitors and partners need to make commitments that will incur cost and we do not wish to burden them unnecessarily. For this reason, if circumstances impact our ability to host an in-person event and we are forced to cancel this element of ISE, we will make this decision by 1 March.

With the backdrop of the global pandemic, our priority in recent months has been devising the means to deliver a safe and secure event for all exhibitors and visitors and we have been working closely with the City of Barcelona, the venue and relevant authorities.

In early January, Fira de Barcelona received the ‘Safe Travels’ stamp, an internationally recognised endorsement from the World Travel Tourism Council (WTTC), developed in collaboration with the specialist risk management consultancy Aon and the Hospital Clínic de Barcelona.

ISE has also published A Guide to Safe Visiting, outlining the safe practice protocols that have been put in place with the Fira Gran Vía to ensure that the visitor experience is safe and secure. The guide can be located on the ISE website here.

Looking ahead to June, we can confirm that today, over 37,000 sqm of space is signed up with just under 700 exhibitors confirmed and new companies continuing to book their place on the floorplan.

Next week sees online visitor registration open, coming at a time when we realise the industry is keen to ‘get back to work’ in the second half of the year. Feedback from our recent customer research shows that the industry is looking forward to meeting as soon as the situation allows and we are currently updating the research to measure current sentiment amongst both our exhibitors and visitors.

In a time where many of our industry colleagues are suffering financially or have lost their jobs or businesses, we at ISE are striving to do everything we can to contribute to the industry getting back on its feet.

I would personally like to thank all our customers, partners and colleagues within the industry which we serve and look forward to seeing you again soon.

– Ends –