ISE Expecting Upcoming 2025 Show To Be 20% Larger Than This Year: Show Director

November 7, 2024 by Dave Haynes

German language content partner Invidis had a sit-down recently with Mike Blackman, the Managing Director of Integrated Systems Events, to advance the giant ISE trade show coming up in less than three months on Barcelona.

Invidis is in the same Munich building as Blackman’s company, so that would have been an easy interview for Florian Rotberg to arrange. The largest ProAV trade fair on the planet is on track to break records.

Here’s the chat:

invidis: Mike, in three months the ProAV industry will meet in Barcelona for ISE 2025. What is the current state of affairs?

Mike Blackman : After an incredible 2024 show, we are now moving on to the 2025 edition. And, what can I say, things are looking really good for ISE next year. We are seeing tremendous growth. ISE 2025 will be, as of today, almost 20 percent bigger than the 2024 show.

That means 20 percent more exhibition space. So we will see a record ISE in February?

Yes, definitely. As far as the exhibition space is concerned, that has already been confirmed. And in terms of visitor numbers, we are also seeing a trend towards a new record trade fair.

To look back briefly: ISE 2024 was already a record-breaking trade fair.

Yes. We had almost 74,000 unique visitors, or around 173,000 visits. That was a new ISE record. Not only has the quantity improved, but also the quality. More and more industry leaders are attending ISE. One in four visitors has already been at C-level. We also have a very strong overseas audience – 20 percent of all visitors come from outside Europe.

Which regions do the participants come from?

Actually, from all over the world. An important figure is the strong presence of visitors from Latin America. This is not only due to the cultural ties between Spain and Latin America. For many Latin Americans, it is difficult to get a visa to the USA, so they decide to come to ISE. For this reason, in 2025 we will host the EU-Latam ProAV Summit for the second time.

And what’s new at ISE 2025?

We have many new conferences, special areas and services, for example the Innovation Park or the E-Sports Arena. We are also expanding to include Hall 8.1, the last available hall that is not yet occupied by ISE. Visitors and exhibitors can now use all three entrances to get to the exhibition grounds more quickly.

We remember long queues at ISE 2023 …

…and we learned from it! The multiple entrances will not only break up the crowds and reduce wait times, but also provide quick access for specific interests: If you want to visit the pro audio and audio demo rooms, you can take the north entrance. If you are interested in digital signage, go through the east entrance.

Speaking of which: What does the ISE offer in terms of digital signage?

Not only has Digital Signage moved to a new hall – Hall 4 – but there are also premium events as part of the extensive content programme, most notably the DSS ISE joint venture with invidis. The Retail Forum, the other event organized with invidis, is also of key importance – as it is our way of supporting Barcelona’s retail associations, retailers and brands.

So the partnership with Barcelona is a key factor for the ISE?

Yes, the mutual benefits are very important for us. For ISE 2023, the full-year economic impact of the fair for Barcelona and the region, including hotels, taxis, temporary workers and the like, was 386 million euros. In 2024, the 400 million euro mark was exceeded. In addition, more and more ProAV companies are opening offices in Barcelona – ​​for example Unilumin – which creates jobs and tax money.

Like a lot of trade shows, it is pretty easy to bypass admission fees (as foot traffic is  key metric). You can use the code ISE2025invidis  and get a free ticket for ISE 2025. Click here to register.

In other freeloader news, it appears ISE will again provide metro and bus travel passes for all attendees, includes routes that go to the airport. There are also shuttle buses that will get attendees to drop locations away from the convention hall, which sees tsunamis of people outside in the hours before and after the show. I use the subway – a fast and easy ride except for a switching trains and using a whole bunch of escalators to get up or down between the different rail lines and platforms.

Sixteen:Nine has all of its sponsors organized for the ISE week digital signage networking mixer. I will likely put registration up in mid-December. The event will be on the night before the trade hall opens, and at the same place and same format as the last couple of years.