Views from the trade show floors

The recent NAB and ISE shows were each heralded as success stories as the trade show scene gets back up and running across the shared ecosystems of media technology, pro AV, and pro audio. With IBC on the horizon at the end of the summer, we asked a selection of exhibitors, attendees, and industry folk for their perspectives on the return to in-person events in the first of a three-part TVBEurope.com feature

By TVBEurope Staff

Published: May 30, 2022

The recent NAB and ISE shows were each heralded as success stories as the trade show scene gets back up and running across the shared ecosystems of media technology, pro AV, and pro audio. With IBC on the horizon at the end of the summer, we asked a selection of exhibitors, attendees, and industry folk for their perspectives on the return to in-person events in the first of a three-part TVBEurope.com feature

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Attendees await the opening of ISE 2022 at the Fira Barcelona, Gran Via In-person trade shows are back, and edging towards their traditional capacities. With Future's teams in the middle of a trade show frenzy creating official show dailies for NAB Show, ISE, and InfoComm, we've picked up plenty of conversational feedback from the show floors about the return to large-scale face-to-face events. And that feedback has been overwhelmingly positive.

To put those conversations into more of an official structure, TVBEurope invited a number of exhibitors, attendees, and industry folk to offer their perspectives on three areas of interest: the general atmosphere of the shows; business targets set/met for each; and whether people's perspective on the effectiveness of trade shows has changed since the pandemic period.

This last point will be the main point of intrigue, as we assess whether exhibitors and attendees feel that the current large-scale format still presents an effective platform for business generation and retention as we emerge more fully from the restrictions of the last 27 months.

That question will be featured in part-three of the feature on Wednesday, with business targets the topic for tomorrow. Today, we start with the topic everyone was talking about on the show floors: how good it was to be back together again.

In-person trade shows are back, and edging towards their traditional capacities. What shows have you visited recently and what was the atmosphere on the show floors of each? James Kirby, senior market analyst, pro audio, Futuresource Consulting

The last trade show we visited was ISE and it was fantastic. We had a team of 15 people out at the show and the whole team was blown away by the atmosphere. There was so much positivity about being back at physical events, and the high attendance was a pleasant surprise.

As far as meetings went it was brilliant. It was just great seeing people again, friends, colleagues, partners and clients, some of which we hadn't seen in two years or more. Conversations were positive despite all the challenges facing the industry at the moment. For audio especially it's been a difficult few years, but ISE felt like it marked a real turning point this year, with Q1 having demonstrated significant recovery across the industry. It made a stark contrast to the last European ISE we attended, where everything was heading in the opposite direction and global lockdowns were around the corner.

Paolo Pescatore, technology, media and telecoms analyst

Arguably I've been to the biggest trade shows of the year so far, MWC in Barcelona and NAB in Las Vegas. Both events clearly demonstrated the appetite for trade shows with a greater focus on quality than quantity. For sure, they remain must attend events in their respective areas which helps drive awareness and justifies an in-person attendance.

Alison Pavitt, sales and marketing director, Pebble

We attended NAB and despite there being fewer visitors than in previous years there was still a definite buzz about the place! The Media Production & Technology Show was incredibly busy and it was our first time exhibiting there. Everyone was excited to be at the show and the priority for attendees and exhibitors alike was to reconnect.

CABSAT was another well attended show, highlighting the value of meeting face to face. At the time of writing this we are in the throes of the final preparations for Broadcast Asia and we're excited to be exhibiting at IBC in September!

Nicole Corbin, senior director, Utelogy

Utelogy has visited Enterprise Connect in March, exhibited at ISE in May, and will be exhibiting at InfoComm in June of 2022. We were incredibly pleased and excited by the turnout at ISE in Barcelona this past month. Seeing people face-to-face and being able to demo our products in person versus over a video call is something we value greatly. The atmosphere was energetic, and the turnout was above our expectations. The new location for ISE allowed each exhibitor to be a bit more spread out which meant wider isles for visitors making it easier to navigate from hall to hall. We are anticipating comparable results for InfoComm in June.

John Wastcoat, SVP alliances and marketing, Zixi

Zixi participated in NAB in Las Vegas and the Media Production and Technology Show in London in the span of the last few weeks. There was palpable excitement for each, and a lot of pent-up desire to meet with vendors, customers and partners in person. At MPTS, there was a quarter-mile line of attendees outside of Olympia London to get in. Everybody was really excited to meet, and then towards the end of the day have a drink together.

Chris Evans, head of pro video, senior market analyst, Futuresource Consulting

In the lead up to NAB there was certainly hesitancy as to how international' the attendance would be, however as the show approached we found a real build in

LINK:	https://www.tvbeurope.com/business/views-from-the-trade-show-floors...
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