In this exclusive interview, Managing Director of ISE Mike Blackman talks about the record numbers of ISE 2025 and about the importance of the close partnership with the city of Barcelona.
invidis sat down with ISE Managing Director Mike Blackman to talk about the upcoming show. The world’s leading ProAV show is poised for another record event in February 2025. But Barcelona’s economy is benefitting throughout the year from ISE as more ProAV market players open offices and showrooms in the Catalan capital.
invidis: Mike, in three months, the ProAV industry will meet in Barcelona for ISE 2025. How are things at the moment?
Mike Blackman: After an incredible show 2024, we are steering towards the 2025 edition. And, what should I say, things look really good for ISE next year. We see tremendous growth. ISE 2025 will be, as of today, almost 20 percent larger than the 2024 show.
That means 20 percent additional exhibition space. So we will see a record ISE in February?
Yes, definitely. In terms of exhibition space, this is already confirmed. And also for the attendance figures, we see trends towards a new record show.
Just to look back for a moment: ISE 2024 already was a record-breaking show.
Yes. We had short of 74.000 unique attendees, or about 173.000 attendances. This was an all-time ISE record. Not only quantity improved, but also quality. More and more industry leaders attend ISE. Every fourth visitor was already C-level. We also saw a very strong overseas audience – 20 percent of all attendees fly in from outside Europe.
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Which regions are attendees coming from?
Really from all over the world. A key figure is the strong attendance base from Latin America. This is not only because of cultural ties between Spain and Latin America. For many of the latter, it is difficult to get a visa for the USA, so they decide to come to ISE. This is why we will host the EU-Latam ProAV Summit already for a second time in 2025.
And what’s new at ISE 2025?
We have a lot of new conferences, zones and offerings, for example the Innovation Park or the E-Sports Arena. Also, we are adding with Hall 8.1 the last remaining available hall not yet occupied by ISE. Attendees and exhibitors can also use now all three entrances for faster access to the show ground.
We remember 2023, where there were long waiting lines …
… and we learned from that! The multiple entrances will not only disperse the crowd and reduce waiting times, but also offer quick access for specific interests: If you want to visit the Pro Audio & Audio Demo Rooms, you can take the north access. If you are interested in digital signage, enter through the east entrance.
Speaking of: What does the ISE offer in terms of digital signage?
Not only has digital signage moved to a new hall – Hall 4 – but there are also premium events as part of the extensive content programme, first and foremost the DSS ISE joint venture with invidis. Also the Retail Forum, the other event organized with invidis, is central – because we support the retail associations, retailers and brands of Barcelona.
So the partnership with Barcelona is a key factor for ISE?
Yes, the mutual benefits are very important for us. For ISE 2023, the year-round economic impact of the show for Barcelona and the region, including hotels, taxis, temporary staff and the likes, was 386 million Euros. This has risen past the 400 million Euros mark in 2024. Also we see more and more ProAV companies opening offices in Barcelona, for example Unilumin, creating jobs and tax money.
