ISE 2019 Registration Opens; Show Expecting 80,000+ Attendees

October 9, 2018 by Dave Haynes

Registration has now opened for the 2019 of Integrated Systems Europe – which runs Feb. 5-9 at the RAI Amsterdam.

The massive pro AV trade show – which has a big digital signage component – is expected to draw numbers in excess of 2018’s totals of 80,923 registered attendees and 1,296 exhibitors.

The thing is a beast that has rapidly outgrown the RAI – spilling into the parking lot where there was a huge temporary marquee tent this year (and next). The show will also do conference sessions up the road at the nearby (and very nice) Hotel Okura.

One of the BIG changes for this year is the opening, finally, of a new subway line that runs direct from Amsterdam Centraal to a new Europaplein station, just in front of the RAI, in only eight minutes. The tram from the central district is fun and lovely in many ways, but it takes waaaaay longer and gets very crowded. There has always been a subway line that runs from Centraal, but it has many stops, is cramped, and involves a serious hoof from the station to the front door. What has to be at least 500 meters, whereas this new line squirts people out of the subway RIGHT in front.

The trade organization AVIXA, a co-owner of the show, is hosting half-day ‘What’s Next’ conferences on the Tuesday and Wednesday afternoons, says a news release. “These will explore AV integrated experiences in higher education and enterprise environments respectively. AVIXA will also be hosting free 20-minute FlashTrack education sessions at its stand.”

“AVIXA’s education programme for ISE will explore the trends at the forefront of contemporary AV design,” says AVIXA CEO David Labuskes. “We’ve partnered with esteemed organisations SCHOMS, EUNIS and the AV User Group to arm AV professionals with the insight needed to elevate their performance in the marketplace.”

Invidis will again be doing a half-day digital signage summit built around ISE. The Digital Signage Awards have their awards program and dinner on 2/6.

The various ISE partners are doing something in hall 8 called Main Stage – thought-leadership content presented by ISE, AVIXA, CEDIA and AV Magazine. This seems to be a riff on the flashy Center Stage thing done the last couple of years at InfoComm.

Don’t know where that will go, as Hall 8 has been the digital signage hall, and it is crammed. There has been a live presentation theater-thingie waaaay at the back corner for the last couple of years. I’d imagine it is more than that.

Have already booked my flights and lodging, with a 36-hour pit stop in London on the way there. Hoping to see a football (soccer) game on 2/2, I note, batting my eyelashes at industry people who may have access to tickets (they’re hard to get, it seems).

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