Integrated Systems Europe (ISE) 2020 has completed its 15-year stay at RAI Amsterdam.
The special ¡Hola Barcelona! event held on the final day of this year’s show – which ended on 14 February – brought down the curtain on ISE’s residence at Amsterdam’s leading exhibition centre.
Politicians and executives saluted the RAI venue and Amsterdam, while looking ahead to the future with the show’s move to the Fira de Barcelona next year.
Against a backdrop of the international health crisis and a storm sweeping across Europe, ISE 2020 delivered a vibrant exhibition floor and a compelling programme of content that included conferences, keynotes and training.
Mike Blackman, managing director of Integrated Systems Events, commented: “This year’s show demonstrated to us just how determined our attendees were to come to ISE. Many of our exhibitors exceeded their targets for customer engagement and lead generation.
“The show has delivered on all fronts: as the global industry’s biggest annual forum, as a launchpad for new solutions, as a place to do business, and as a source of professional development and education.”
This year’s show demonstrated to us just how determined our attendees were to come to ISE
There were a total of 116,599 visits to ISE 2020 this year – removing repeat visits by individuals on subsequent days gives a total of 52,128 unique attendees.
Thought leadership and expert opinion were to be found across many channels. In the opening address, former Disney executive Duncan Wardle gave a demonstration of how to unleash the creativity within all of us.
Fourteen conferences in two venues addressed business strategies and technology trends across the broadest range of vertical markets ever served by an ISE professional development programme. This line-up included the launch of the Control Rooms Summit, and the creation of the Smart Workplace Track as an offshoot of the Smart Building Conference.
On the main stage, jointly organised by ISE, AVIXA, CEDIA and AV Magazine, expert speakers offered thought leadership on a wide range of topics. Attracting a diverse and talented workforce within the AV industry was the focus of a number of these sessions. AVIXA’s Diversity Council Forum featured a keynote speech from BBC creative diversity director June Sarpong, and in a session organised jointly with WAVE (Women in AV), the AVIXA Women’s Council was addressed by the Hon. Àngels Chacón, Minister for Business and Knowledge in the Catalonian Government.
On Friday, a panel session jointly produced by all four content partners discussed practical measures for recruiting new talent to the industry.
The largest AV career day ever held at ISE featured over 170 students and faculty from 12 different universities across five countries took part in the event, organised by AVIXA and CEDIA. Presentations, discussions and show floor visits gave participants a real flavour of the wide variety of career paths that the industry has to offer.
CEDIA reported its most successful professional development programme to date, with an increase in uptake of over 50% on last year. The association’s inaugural design and build conference was well attended and received excellent feedback from its audience of architects, interior designers and other design and build professionals.
On the association’s stand, membership enquiries exceeded targets, and the twice-daily CEDIA Talks proved very popular.
Tabatha O’Connor, CEO of CEDIA, commented: “ISE 2020 has been our best ever show. Our professional development programme proved to be the most popular yet with registrations at an all-time high.
“CEDIA thanks the city of Amsterdam, and the RAI, for its hospitality over many years, and for an exceptional finale in 2020. We can’t wait for ISE 2021 in Barcelona!”
In preparation for ISE 2021 in Barcelona, over 80 Spanish professionals from a broad cross-section of vertical markets were invited to ISE 2020 as part of the event’s Special Interest Group programme. Supported by ACCIO, ICEX and Grupo Eventoplus they took part in a special programme of tours, presentations and networking functions, culminating in the ¡Hola Barcelona! event.
During ISE 2020, over 950 exhibitors booked their stands for ISE 2021, with 61,968 square metres of stand space sold by the close of the show. This equates to 82% of the available ISE 2021 show floor, and approximately 115% of this year’s exhibition floor space. Reflecting the increasing number of vertical markets that ISE serves, additional Technology Zones for next year include Live Events and Lighting, Broadcast, and VR/AR/XR.
The content programme at ISE 2021 will be augmented by three new strands produced by TNW (The Next Web), focusing on technology and its impact on society: Growth Quarters, Startup City Summit and The Assembly.
ISE 2021 will take place at the Gran Via – Fira de Barcelona on 2-5 February 2021.
