ISE Confirms Its Position as the European Destination for the Global AV Industry

The largest and busiest Integrated Systems Europe (ISE) in its 15-year history drew record numbers of exhibitors and attendees from around the world for four days of business, education, and networking at the RAI Amsterdam February 6 - 9.

Throughout 15 halls, visitors experienced a vibrant showcase of the latest AV and systems integration technologies, products, and solutions as ISE confirmed its position as the international destination of choice for AV professionals.

The number of exhibitors totaled 1,296, of which 294 were exhibiting at ISE for the first time. Combined, they filled 53,000sqm of exhibition floor space. Floor space already confirmed for ISE 2019 currently stands at 103-percent of the total booked for ISE 2018.

The number of registered visitors by the end of the show had reached 80,923, an increase of 10.3-percent on the 2017 edition. Importantly, almost 20,000 visitors attended the last day of the show. On a distinctly positive note, over 30-percent of the total attendees were visiting ISE for the first time, a key benchmark for exhibitors in their quest to develop new sales leads.

Mike Blackman, Integrated Systems events managing director, commented: "It's been a great show that has delivered on all fronts. I'm delighted to report that visitor numbers and exhibitor satisfaction have both been very high. On behalf of ISE, I'd like to thank all our attendees, exhibitors, partners, and our co-owners AVIXA and CEDIA. This combination has made ISE what it is today and ensures that we are able to build on our successes year on year."

Highlights of the show included: an opening address from architect and inventor Carlo Ratti that explored the evolution of smart building and "Senseable Cities," nine dedicated B2B conferences covering a wide range of AV topics from innovation and design to theme park "night-time spectaculars," a stand awards competition, "Tech Tours" to three leading AV installations including the Amsterdam ArenA, and five days of professional development programming curated and delivered by AVIXA and CEDIA.

ISE 2018 also saw the debut of the World Masters of Projection Mapping competition, a joint venture between the Amsterdam Light Festival, RAI Amsterdam, and ISE. The competition saw leading video artists' project video artworks onto the EYE Filmmuseum in the center of the city. The competition culminated in Florian and Michael Quistrebert receiving the winner's award for their artwork Stripes 5 on the last day of the show.

Many exhibitors once again used the show as a launchpad for hundreds of new products, technologies, and solutions. Technology and business trends included: a growth in IP and the crossover between broadcast and AV; commercially viable virtual, augmented, and mixed reality technologies and solutions; the increase of devices for the smart home; the divergence of digital signage with both smart systems and "plug and play" gaining traction; the increase in small pitch LED displays; 4K everywhere; IoT everywhere; the growth of projection mapping; networked audio and the continued progression of the collaboration market.

For both AVIXA and CEDIA, the show provided a unique platform for the associations to reinforce recent initiatives and to cement their key role as providers of exemplary professional development programs.

Dave Labuskes, CTS, CAE, RCDD, chief executive officer of AVIXA commented: "What a great week here at ISE in Amsterdam. We kicked off the week with our TIDE conference and never stopped learning and connecting with the global AV community. It was very exciting to unveil our new AVIXA brand to the ISE audience and welcome attendees to our vibrant stand. Although the week has come to a close, we're already looking forward to InfoComm 2018 and our TIDE conference this June in Las Vegas."

Tabatha O'Connor, CEDIA CEO, commented: "CEDIA has enjoyed a phenomenal ISE 2018. We are so proud to be co-owners of this amazing event. Our training program featured more than 50 classes, across business and technical topics, and certification examinations that were very well supported by the industry. Meantime, our booth was buzzing with visitors, finding out more about our new strategic plan, meeting friends from the CEDIA community, and making great, new connections. Our exciting program of CEDIA Talks on the booth also proved extremely popular. We look forward to our own CEDIA event in San Diego this coming September and a spectacular return to Amsterdam for ISE 2019."

ISE 2019 will be held at the RAI Amsterdam February 5 - 8, 2019.

Additional information about AVIXA is available at avixa.org.

To learn more about CEDIA, visit www.cedia.net.