International. Integrated Systems Events and its co-owners AVIXA and CEDIA have announced that the fair, scheduled for the month of June in Barcelona, has been canceled due to the pandemic and the difficulty of international travel to Spain.
In its replacement, they will organize ISE Live & Online, a series of local events in Barcelona, Munich, Amsterdam and London, which will be supported by a comprehensive digital offering powered by CISCO.
ISE Ceo Mike Blackman explained: "We have made this decision after extensive discussions with our exhibitors over the past few months, and more explicitly, these last 10 days. All along there has been a clear demand for a four-day ISE show in Barcelona in June. However, uncertainty persists around the pandemic and international travel, which means we cannot run ISE 2021 in its traditional format. Our exhibitors have made it clear that there is a desire to unite the industry, but locally. In response, we are targeting Europe's key markets in the audiovisual sector and aim to deliver a quality audience that wants to meet potential suppliers, existing customers and the network with their peers."
ISE Live & Online Schedule
- 1-2 June, Fira Barcelona (Tue/ Wednesday)
- 8-9 June, MAC Forum, Munich (Tuesday/Wednesday)
- 15-16 June, RAI, Amsterdam (Tuesday/Wednesday)
- 23-24 June, Evolution, Battersea, London (Wednesday/Thursday)
"For 2021, we have a rich and exciting digital offering," Blackman said. "We are proud to work with CISCO on this innovative approach. We will be taking ISE to four cities in June and continuing our popular RISE Spotlight program throughout the year. Working with the industry in this way, we will provide significant opportunities for sales teams to get to know their customers, for people to experience product innovations, and of course for networking."
David Labuskes, CEO of AVIXA, said that "COVID has taught us all to listen more carefully. Listen to our neighbors, our family, our co-workers, our customers, and our market. I think this approach reflects what we've heard, a strong desire for prudent and safe face-to-face meetings that can strengthen business connections and initiate growth. We are honored to be in a position to offer them to our community."
Giles Sutton, Deputy Managing Director of CEDIA, added: "Everyone in the industry is missing out on the human interaction that is such a vital part of our industry: the opportunity not only to see, hear and touch new products and innovations in our sector, but also everything ISE brings in terms of learning, networking and that important sense of community. ISE's success has been based on broad industry support and that is why we have made these decisions this week. We look forward to a debut show where our community can be reunited in Barcelona in February 2022."
Mike Blackman concluded, "We are humbled by the many messages of support we have received from our customers and partners, who have appreciated the steps we have taken. We look forward to continuing to serve the industry in the coming year and look forward to being back together in Barcelona to deliver the ISE show in February 2022."
