ISE officially kicked off this evening (Feb 5) with the show’s MD Mike Blackman, explaining the trade show is not just all about viewing the latest product releases
Hundreds of journalists, integrators, distributors and end users arrived at the RAI in Amsterdam this evening (Feb 6), for the official opening of ISE 2018.
The Opening Address, which took place the day before the exhibitor halls and theatres become accessible, featured an introduction from the show’s MD Mike Blackman, followed by guest speaker Carlo Ratti – a globally recognised (famous?) Italian architect, engineer, inventor, educator and activist.
Blackman (momentarily flustered on discovery he’d lost some of his paper notes) thanked organisers, ISE Events, its owners CEDIA and AVIXA, before explaining that whilst ISE is an event fames for manufacturers to present and demonstrate their latest and greatest solutions, he’s keen to emphasis the opportunity for visitors (77,000 expected) to take the opportunity to learn and broaden their own abilities.
At the time of writing, pre-show events, including TIDE (Technology. Innovation. Design. Experience) – hailed by Blackman as a “phenomenal conference” – had made its debut in Amsterdam after a successful launch at InfoComm last year. The conference, held at Hotel Okura Amsterdam, explored the creative forces shaping the AV industry and how AV businesses can benefit from these concepts. Key areas of focus included design thinking, bringing together designers, brand marketers, content creators, systems integrators, live events producers, and end users to share their different perspectives.
There was also the Smart Building Conference (SBC), an event that explored the latest technologies, business strategies, market research and workflow case studies through presentations from the world’s leading smart building experts and thought leaders.
The annual Audio Forum conference will explore one of the professional audio industry’s most compelling topic areas – Digital Protocols and Audio over IP – completed the pre show line up.
Blackman then went on to discuss some of the other highlights at ISE, which includes its first XR Summit, exploring the development of XR – Virtual, Augmented and Mixed Reality, its Digital Signage Summit and the Sports Venue and Engagement Summit – all taking place throughout the week.
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“We’ve got a host of conferences and some unbelievable events running throughout each day. All of these conferences feature leading figures out of the industry from the sectors that they represent.
“ISE is all about connecting, sharing and learning. We have a host of conferences running looking at education, professional development run by AVIXA and CEDIA, show floor theatres which are free of charge and a great platform for professional development. Mixed with the conferences, ISE is not just about seeing what’s going on and learning about what’s new, but actually educating yourselves as well.”
