ISE Floor Plan Coming Together; Digital Signage Firms Grouped In One Hall Again

October 21, 2021 by Dave Haynes

I am starting to look ahead to Integrated Systems Europe, even though the next big pro AV show is actually next week – InfoComm in Orlando.

I am looking past that because I am not going, and this year’s InfoComm is expected be a shadow of its normal self in terms of numbers. There has been much, at times heated debate in AV-focused social media about the pros, cons and prospects for next week, but I’m staying out of it. I don’t run trade shows. I just go to them.

In contrast, ISE is not getting the same should I stay or should I go debate, in part because it is in Spain, not Florida, and also because it is 102 days. ISE is expected to be normal-ish, in terms of big exhibitor and attendee numbers, though what happens will be shaped not only by the state of the pandemic and ease of travel, but also by having relocated to another part of Europe.

I looked at the ISE floor plan and it is a bit like past years, with the smaller LED manufacturers and specialty display guys organized in a specific hall, while the major display guys like Samsung, LG and NEC/Sharp are in a different hall.

That said, the halls at the Barcelona exhibit facility are nothing like the RAI in Amsterdam – which is a series of buildings and hallways and add-on marquee tents and on and on. In the RAI, Samsung had its own building and rival LG was up or down escalators and stairs and what felt like 500 meters of walking away, while the digital signage hall was at the back and getting there involved no end of lefts and rights and ups and downs. Loved Amsterdam but that place was nutty. There may still be some 2020 attendees trying to find their way to the front.

There are currently 666 exhibitors (I know, but leaving that alone) for ISE. The last full ISE had about 950 exhibitors, but keep in mind the show is still 102 days out. The 2020 show had about 52,000 attendees, way down as COVID worries were bubbling up, but still substantial. Infocomm currently shows 292 exhibitors, and given the show is next week, that will likely be close to the final number. In the Before Times of 2019, InfoComm had some 950 exhibitors.

I am going to ISE, and there will be a Sixteen:Nine digital signage industry mixer on Feb. 2nd, at the same venue as the global Digital Signage Awards that Sixteen:Nine supports.

If you are going to InfoComm, safe travels and I certainly hope the investment for exhibitors and visitors proves worthwhile. It’s a pile of work to put these things on as a show organizer and as individual vendor marketers. Even if AVIXA won’t see the normal number of booths and people, the place still needs to work, look and feel like a normal InfoComm.

 

 

  1. Miguel Fonseca says:

    See you @ ISE !!!!!

  2. Hubertus Beckmann says:

    Make ISE great again !

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