The 2023 edition of the leading audiovisual and systems integration exhibition ISE 2023, 31 January–3 February, delivered record visitor numbers, stimulating new content and appearances from visiting royalty and political dignitaries at the Fira Gran Via Barcelona.
Returning to its normal Jan/Feb timeslot in the AV calendar, ISE 2023 had 58,107 unique attendees from 155 countries, alongside record-breaking occupation in the city’s hotels, bars and entertainment venues, and organisers reported unparalleled footfall on booths across the largest ever ISE show floor.
Mike Blackman, managing director of Integrated Systems Events, commented: “It’s been an extraordinary week and it’s hugely gratifying for us to look back and realise we’ve delivered an exceptional show for our industry and the wonderful city of Barcelona. We’ve had unprecedented visitor levels to the show, so much inspiring content and features on display, and ground-breaking visits from the King of Spain on Tuesday and the President of Catalonia on Thursday to add both a royal and a political seal of approval to the show. This week at ISE 2023 confirms that we can safely say the global AV and systems integration industry is back with an impressive bang!”
The first day of the show set the tone for the week with the highest number of opening day visitors ever for an ISE show, visiting the record 56,870sqm of floorspace over the show’s six halls and the Audio Demo Rooms, where iconic French pioneer of electronic music Jean-Michel Jarre unveiled his latest album. On the first day, King Felipe VI of Spain took a tour of the show floor stopping by a few booths to take in a small sample of the technology on display. The Royal Party was accompanied by Ada Colau, mayor of Barcelona; Núria Marín, mayor of L’Hospitalet de Llobregat; Laia Bonet, 3rd deputy mayor of Barcelona. Pere Aragones, president of the Government of Catalonia also visited ISE and took time to visit some of the 70 Catalan-based companies exhibiting at the Gran Via, Fira Barcelona.
Exhibitors were united in their praise for ISE 2023: Christine Schyvinck, CEO of one exhibitor, Shure said: “It’s been a few incredible days at ISE. Lots of inspiring conversations with partners and old friends. We were honoured to welcome His Majesty the King at our booth, and we won an award for our technology.”
Of particular note was the brand-new Content Production and Distribution zone making its debut in Hall 6.
Thought leadership and inspiring stories were themes for the three keynote speeches held during the show. The opening day BK Johannessen of Epic Games highlighted how technology trends in the gaming industry is driving audiovisual innovation to new heights of creativity. He drew on experience of cutting-edge projects in gaming, film and broadcast to engage and entertain the audience.
One of the oldest and best-known competitions in international sailing, the Americas Cup provided the backdrop to Stephen Nuttall’s keynote on day two of the show. As the sailing race’s head of television, he related his first-hand experience of the unique technical challenges the event sets and the spectacular results when everything goes to plan. His unique perspective provided a taster for the 2024 event which is set to take place in Barcelona.
ISE returns to Barcelona 30 January–2 February 2024.
Photo: Rebecca Khelifa-Bonk
