InfoComm Forecasting 20,000 Attendees, 525 Exhibitors For Almost-Back-To-Normal Vegas Show In June
May 16, 2022 by Dave Haynes
In the wake of last week’s Integrated Systems Europe, the folks at the trade association AVIXA (which co-owns ISE) are now putting the focus on InfoComm, the sister pro AV trade show in Las Vegas.
Instead of ISE and InfoComm being a few months apart, they are a few weeks this year – the tight timelines brought on by the pandemic that refuses to end.
I had a chat with several people at AVIXA today to review plans and expectations for the show, generally … and in the context of digital signage.
First, it sounds like InfoComm will be pretty normalish – like 2019 InfoComm but with fewer people and stands, but a lot more hand sanitizer.
The show is currently tracking at about 20,000 attendees and roughly 300,000 square feet of exhibit space, spread across some 525 exhibitors. That compares to 44,000 people and 950 stands in 2019, well before COVID-19 turned up. So the numbers will unsurprisingly be down, but not “shadow-of-its- former-self” down.
Rochelle Richardson, the SVP who runs AVIXA’s live events, says they are being conservative about forecasted numbers for 2022.
Richardson also says the numbers have been accelerating quite a bit in the last couple of weeks, likely owing to the experiences and impressions shared from other shows. NAB happened, for example, and now so has ISE. So maybe the wait and see crowd has now “seen” and decided to exhibit or send people.
AVIXA also says the numbers of exhibiting companies who expressed an inability to do both ISE and InfoComm when they were just weeks apart was minimal. That makes sense, particularly for larger companies, because Q1 and Q2 tend to have several shows anyway to book, build, staff and manage.
There is a digital signage pavilion – a somewhat dedicated area that has 71 exhibitors. That’s something InfoComm has done for years, but hiving ALL of the digital signage companies together never fully comes off because the larger firms – like the LGs and Samsungs and Sonys – have other markets and use-cases they serve, and some of those, like collaboration, might be bigger markets than signage. The displaycos have their floor positions and they’re not moving over to DS World.
In all, AVIXA says there are about 150 companies of the 525 who identify digital signage as a core product or service. Not all of those would be pure-play digital signage, though.
The Digital Signage Federation has collaborated with AVIXA on a 2022 version of the D=Sign conference, done last year at a semi live, semi virtual InfoComm in Florida. D=SIGN has a series of sessions over two days. There is also a mixer on June 7th run by the DSF and AVIXA. Registration for that is open to qualified attendees working in digital signage, says AVIXA. If you qualify, the reception will be offered to you during online registration.
The event has about 100 registrants to date but the venue – one of those hipster-ish bowling alley/bar set-ups – can hold 300. It is on the strip, in the Linq/Flamingo area. AVIXA is also looking for sponsors for that event.
Sixteen:Nine is NOT doing a mixer at InfoComm. Honestly, I got tired of doing all the upfront work and then COVID-cancelling again and again. You can only send out Never Mind emails so many times.
There is a Market Insights Lunch on June 8th, which is a little weirdly sub-titled Digital Signage Today. DS Today the publication is not involved in the session, which is being hosted by Florian Rotberg of Invidis (German publication, but Florian speaks perfect English). I am the co-host and eye candy for the session, which will look at where digital signage is at and review highlights from the annual (and excellent) yearbook that Invidis puts together.
I asked about the health safety plans for the show. Masks will be optional – unless local health regulations force a mandate. But to get a badge, attendees will need to produce proof of vaccination or documentation of a recent negative test.
In looking at photos from ISE, it appears very few attendees were wearing masks in the halls, and it is likely going to be the same thing will happen in Las Vegas. I have chatted with people who have been to events in Vegas recently and they’ve said mask usage was pretty rare. I will be one of the probably rare, as I still wear a KN94 even going for groceries. I am not sure how this will work with drinking beer at after-hours events, but where there is a will …
There will be gallons of sanitizer around. Masks will be made available if people leave them in a cab or in their rooms. Knuckle-bumps will probably still be a thing.
There will be shuttle buses once again, and people can choose to wear masks on them. The shuttles are also a non-COVID health safety thing, as walking to the LVCC from a hotel is not a great idea when it is 117 degrees F outside. Shade and water are your friends … as is happy hour.
I’m booked for flights and hotels. It will be my first industry event of any kind since ISE 2020. Looking forward to seeing people again. Not looking forward, as much, to re-acquainting myself with airports, line-ups and long rides in economy. Haven’t missed that part a lick.
Screenfeed will have a booth for the first time at Infocomm in about 6 years. Hoping to see the traffic similar to what I saw at ISE last week (busy booths) as we launch a brand new service.