- Amsterdam, NETHERLANDS--With exactly a week to go before ISE 2011 opens its doors, all the signs are pointing to the event once again breaking its own records for floor space, exhibitor numbers, and overall attendance.
- Despite the addition of two new halls to the 2010 floorplan, exhibit space at ISE 2011 was sold out weeks ago. The show’s gross floor area this year will be 54,000 square metres, an 11 percent rise on ISE 2010. Net floor space will show an even more startling increase, surging by 17 percent to 26,650 square metres.
- “On top of our two new halls, we have taken extra space in the Europa Foyer to house additional exhibitors together with new features such as the GUI Gallery and IP Village, but even this has proved insufficient and our waiting list of companies who want to be at the show, but who we cannot currently accommodate, continues to grow day by day,” says Mike Blackman, managing director, Integrated Systems Events.
- Over 700 exhibitors will be showing their wares at the Amsterdam RAI from 1-3 February, another significant increase on the 2010 figure of 640. Of these, over 100 will be new to ISE, with these newcomers being drawn from a broad range of industries including building automation, unified communications, event production, digital signage, visualisation and lighting control.
- Attendee numbers look set to follow a similar trend. Daily pre-registration levels are running at between 15 percent and 20 percent above the equivalent in 2010, leading ISE confidently to predict a total attendance in excess of 30,000.
- “Clearly, the mere fact that we are hosting more companies than ever is going to attract more visitors,” says Blackman. “But the strength of our pre-registration also reflects the range and appeal of the new activities we have added to ISE this year. The show floor will feature a dedicated 3D Theatre for the first time, along with a new or enhanced presence from organisations such as the KNX Association, AVnu Alliance and ISCE.
- “Away from the floor, we have a pre-show Conference programme three times the size of that in 2010, while our parent associations InfoComm and CEDIA have both added on-site certification testing to their education offerings, which are themselves more extensive than ever before.”
- It all adds up to a networking and business development opportunity that is second to none, as Blackman concludes: “No other event in Europe rivals ISE in terms of growth, innovation and plain old-fashioned excitement. From both a technological and a business perspective, ISE 2011 will truly offer ‘all the connections you need’.”
