The Integrated Systems Europe 2004 premiere exhibition and conference for audiovisual and electronic systems, manufacturers, distributors and buyers was, by all accounts, a great success. The 120 participating exhibitors from 22 countries, 3489 attendees from over 80 countries and the association organisers were extremely satisfied with the pan European event held in Geneva 3rd – 5th February.

“We were pleased with the Show and would like to repeat it again in 2005. We had a lot of high-quality visitors, negotiated with many decision makers and had a good turn-out”, said A.C. Ter Meulen, General Manager of Mitsubishi Electric Europe. Robin Van Meeuwen, Director of Crestron International echoed the positive reaction: “The ISE really is a good show – extremely busy, with a nice mix of many countries and with a very good turn-out. It had a high fluctuation and a lot of attendees visiting the show.”

ISEurope offers the latest electronic systems technologies, the latest market information, and the most comprehensive education programme ever seen in Europe. The new exhibition, which caters to buyers in the professional audiovisual, security, and electronic systems, as well as home theatre markets, is jointly sponsored by CEDIA, ICIA and NSCA – the industry’s leading organisations, with a combined membership of over 5,000 companies and individuals in over 60 countries. The healthy and high quality attendance at the show reassured exhibitors, who reported high levels of sales leads. Rick Bergamaschi, General Manager of Runco International, said, “The turn-out and the attendance were surprisingly good and the interest about our home theatre technology was great.”

Highlights of the event included a Business Conference focusing on the market trends for the industry. Keynoted by Sam Runco, one of the world’s best known and respected home theater innovators, the Business Conference drew a crowd of almost 100 attendees on the opening day of the Show. In addition, a full conference of more than 45 workshops and seminars offered technical and business training for attendees. The organisers are now in the planning phase for Integrated Systems Europe 2005, and with the full support of exhibitors at a meeting held during the exhibition, an unanimous decision was reached to run the 2005 around the same time of year. Although all present praised the facilities and convenience of Geneva PALEXPO, the venue for the first Integrated Systems Europe, the organisers have been asked to explore the possibility of running the 2005 event in other European locations, including Amsterdam, Barcelona, Geneva or Vienna.

“All our exhibitors felt that the service and facilities in Geneva worked well, and many also noted that for day trippers from other countries, the PALEXPO was very convenient. However, we are in discussion with several cities for 2005, and will be announcing the new venue and dates within the next weeks,” said Michael Blackman, Managing Director of ISE.