Sixteen:Nine ISE Mixer Set For Feb. 2 In Barcelona; Call For Sponsors

November 9, 2021 by Dave Haynes

With InfoComm out of the way, the next major trade show focused on digital signage and pro AV (if you set aside CES and NRF) is Integrated Systems Europe in Barcelona, at the start of February.

Sixteen:Nine will be doing a digital signage industry mixer during that week, off-site and in conjunction with the global Digital Signage Awards. The Wednesday, February 2nd mixer will be run just ahead of the awards – so industry folks can come to the mixer and opt to either hang out there for the evening, or go upstairs at the venue to the awards and related dinner. That is a separate, ticketed event – so going to the mixer doesn’t mean you are also going to the awards.

Information on the awards and dinner – which Sixteen:Nine helps sponsor and guide – can be found here. The awards team in the UK have let me know they’ve seen a record number of entries, from all over the planet. Unlike some awards you’ll find out there, there is no pay to win component to these awards. They’re judged entirely by a large panel of senior industry people, with no knowledge or nod to who bought sponsorships, ads or a table for the dinner.

There was a Sixteen:Nine mixer planned for InfoComm, but that was cancelled over my personal concerns about how an indoor cocktail party looked in the midst of a pandemic, whether it was  waning or not. I don’t have the same concerns about the event in Barcelona – mainly because it is still three months out, the event can be all or partially outdoors, and real medical experts who don’t publish on Facebook are openly wondering if the country might be on the cusp of realizing herd immunity.

The venue is an events facility on a hill that overlooks the harbor, and has a large outdoor plaza area, as well as a lower level indoor area that can be used in the weather isn’t ideal. But please be ideal! It is close to the city center and between there and the convention hall where ISE is being run.

There will be drinks, food, POSSIBLY some soft, live music, and a pile of people from the industry – many you won’t have seen for two years or more. Sixteen:Nine networking mixers are known as great ways to catch up with old friends and efficiently connect in what you could call a target-rich environment.

Sixteen:Nine pulls all this together, but I look to vendors to help provide the sponsorship money that pays for the drinks, food, venue, photography and so on. SO … I will be seeking a small number of sponsors to support the event. If you are interested, please send me an email (dave@sixteen-nine.net) and I will send a sponsor package. I recommend asking quickly. Mixer sponsorships, at least in normal times, go quickly.

There will also be a mixer ahead of the rebooted DSE, same venue, same format (with a new twist ahead of the formal mixer). Details on that to be announced soon, as well.