AV Technology’s Margot Douaihy discusses the value ISE provides to the AV industry and why it’s anything but just another ordinary AV trade show
How do you map the best route to your destination when the road takes unexpected turns every day?
Therein lies the challenge for technology associations and representative bodies such as the Audiovisual Integrated Experience Association (AVIXA) and Integrated Systems Europe (ISE). Now in its fourteenth year, ISE was designed to help navigate the rapidly evolving AV landscape and this year promises to be the most dynamic show yet.
ISE’s 2017 benchmarks were impressive – 73,000 visitors, 1,200 exhibitors, 14 halls, and countless stroopwafels (seriously, you must try them) – and 2018 is poised for an equal or greater showing, with records set to once again be broken – if not smashed.
A conference with the depth and diversity of ISE is a draw for residential and commercial systems integrators, and now end users are attending the show in greater numbers
Opportunities
While these numbers are significant, there’s an even bigger figure: $178 billion. That’s the valuation of global professional AV spending, according to AVIXA. With its international aperture, ISE offers global stakeholders opportunities to connect, share best practices, and cultivate relationships to elevate AV’s value.
But ISE is much more than a trade show. The confluence of live AV demonstrations, training courses, market intelligence, educational tracks, networking, keynotes, and community celebrations makes ISE a destination for AV professionals around the world.
To comprehensively cover the latest tech developments and AV trends big and small, ISE designs its exhibition space as curated zones. The RAI – which isn’t the easiest venue to navigate around, it must be said – will be sectioned into seven areas across 15 halls: The Audio & Live Event Technology Zone, Digital Signage & DooH Zone, Education Technology Zone, Residential Solutions Zone, Smart Building Zone, Unified Communications Zone, and XR Technology Zone.
Emerging technologies
New in 2018, the XR Technology Zone was created to address the growing importance of augmented, virtual, and mixed realities in AV. Located in the Park Foyer, at the rear of Hall 8, the XR Technology Zone’s centrepiece will be provided by Holovis and highlight B2B immersive technologies. Attendees and exhibitors are invited to try emerging technologies in real time and discuss potential business opportunities enabled by XR.
Exemplified by XR, AV/IT convergence, and data visualization, the industry ISE represents is protean by nature.
A conference with the depth and diversity of ISE is a draw for residential and commercial systems integrators, and now end users are attending the show in greater numbers
Hi TIDE
Before the exhibition halls begin their hands-on AV demonstrations, TIDE (Technology. Innovation. Design. Experience.) Conference creators hope to inspire higher-level thinking about AV. On February 5th, the day before the ISE expo floor opens, TIDE – making its debut at ISE following a successful launch at InfoComm – will convene at the Hotel Okura Amsterdam for a one-day conference to explore “the creative forces shaping the AV industry and how AV businesses can benefit from these concepts,” according to AVIXA.”
TIDE’s moderator for the day will be Kevin Jackson, an influential marketer who has worked with some of the world’s leading live-event agencies. Jan-Erik Baars, head of the design management program at the University of Applied Science in Lucerne, Switzerland, will join the event to share his expertise on design thinking and lead a workshop on how his principles can be applied. Other speakers include Pedro Gadanho, director of MAAT, the new Museum of Art, Architecture, and Technology in Lisbon, and Julien Le Bas, senior vice president and executive creative director for Jack Morton Worldwide. Additional tickets are required!
Value for end users
A conference with the depth and diversity of ISE is a draw for residential and commercial systems integrators, and now end users are attending the show in greater numbers.
According to ISE staff, exhibitors at the 2017 show “were seen increasingly to present their products and solutions in ‘real world’ scenarios, designed to meet the needs of the increasing numbers of end users visiting the show.” That’s great news for you and – by extension – your business. See you there!
