What They Say
Invidis had an interesting chart on the number of exhibitors at next week’s ISE event, which will have 845 exhibitors and with 45,000 m² of space booked. The level of exhibitors has got back to 80% of the pre-pandemic levels. Those missing are mainly smaller Asian companies but almost all major exhibitors are said to be back.
Delegate bookings are expected to switch towards France and Spain/Portugal rather than being strongly based on Benelux.
What We Think
I was very disappointed that ISE eventually settled on the same week as Display Week for its event, but having organised events myself, I understand why getting the dates right is very complicated. The ISE dates also clashed with the annual Midwich Ascot event in the UK, and, bowing to the inevitable, that event has moved.
I was one of many who were asked their opinion about the move away from the RAI in Amsterdam when the event out-grew the site. I nominated Barcelona as it has the infrastructure to absorb the event pretty well – it is used to major events such as MWC. ISE was also traditionally in February and at that time of the year, Barcelona is, usually, more comfortable than Amsterdam. It also has plenty of cheap flights. However, moving away from Amsterdam also meant that delegates could not just drive to the event and minimise expenses. Given that there are many small companies in the AV installation and integrator world, that could be a significant factor this year, so it will be interesting to see how delegate numbers come out.
I couldn’t help noting that Mike Blackburn and his team at ISE have taken a more optimistic view for the future than the trendline that might be drawn from 2017 to 2022! (BR)
