The editorial team at Pro-Systems Africa News was privileged to attend ISE 2018, where we witnessed the unfolding of the most extensive AV integration trade show in the world. ISE 2018 spanned 15 halls with a record number of exhibitors and visitors, with attendance estimated at 80 000 visitors over four days. The show is a genuinely exceptional platform for education, networking and business development for stakeholders in the pro AV market on a global scale.
During an interview with Pro-Systems News, Integrated Systems Events managing director, Mike Blackman confirmed that the show has officially become the largest tradeshow for the professional AV integration market in the world and the largest trade show to be hosted in the city of Amsterdam. Despite the fact that event organisers added two temporary structures to the already enormous RAI exhibition venue in Amsterdam, Blackman states that the show has reached capacity in this space. “We are currently operating at capacity. However, the show continues to grow on average of 10% every year. We are now focusing on quality of exhibition rather than quantity for next years’ show,” he told Pro-Systems News.
ISE 2018 provided Pro-Systems with the opportunity to explore the latest in AV technology across a wide spectrum of applications, including smart offices, integrated learning environments, retail spaces, hospitality markets, projection technology and digital signage. The narrowing of the gap between IT and AV technology was a major theme at the show, with smart solutions that operate over a network taking centre stage. Pro-Systems had the opportunity to interview some of the world’s leading original equipment manufacturers over the four-day event, and full coverage including insights and new product launches will be featured in the upcoming print edition of Pro-Systems Africa News.
In addition to chatting with representatives from Crestron, Christie, Panasonic, Harman, Kramer, Barco, and Exterity, among others, we also connected with an impressive number of South Africans at the show, including representatives from Peripheral Vision, Crestron South Africa, Audiosure, Apex Pro, Orion Audio Visual, Omega, Digital Fabric, Dimension Data and – to name a few.
We will be publishing news and updates emanating from ISE 2018 in the days and weeks to follow.
