News

ISE announces 90% of space is sold for 2009 (11/11/2008)

Time running out for exhibitors as ISE announces 90% of space is sold for 2009

Europe's No.1 systems integration tradeshow continues to grow, defying economic uncertainty

With a little over three months remaining before Integrated Systems Europe 2009 opens its doors, the show's organisers are predicting another sellout of exhibition space - despite the event occupying some 30% more net space than in 2008. Around 90% of the available space has already been reserved, leaving exhibitors who have not yet signed up facing something of a race against the clock.

"The continued growth of ISE is a tribute not just to the strength of our event, but to the robustness of the professional AV and electronic systems industry in Europe," comments Mike Blackman, Managing Director, Integrated Systems Events. "At a time when some other tradeshows are experiencing a downturn in exhibitor interest, we are rapidly running out of prime spaces."

Blackman adds that ISE's continued growth can be attributed to interest from a range of industry sectors, rather than any one market: "We have had another big rise in the number of pro-audio companies exhibiting, reflecting the increasing importance of corporate AV and the rental and staging market to that sector. Similarly, we have had to add a further Residential Solutions area to Hall 9, as a result of the continued appeal of home theatre and automation technologies. And, of course, digital signage has been a huge growth sector this year - a trend we have responded to with our new Digital Signage Zone in Hall 12, along with the DOOH Business Conference which begins the day before the show."

At the same time as it is filling its exhibition floorplan, the Integrated Systems Europe team is also aggressively promoting next year's event, to ensure that attendance keeps pace with the growth in exhibitor numbers. "This year we are spending over 800,000 Euro on visitor marketing, with a particular focus on attracting new attendees from the architecture, facilities management, content creation and staging communities," concludes Blackman. "This represents our biggest-ever investment in show marketing. We are confident that, despite the downturn, attendance at ISE 2009 will again break all records and pass the 25,000 figure."

www.iseurope.org