The story continues… over the many years in Amsterdam, ISE’s growth has basically been a straight line, both in terms of visitors, exhibitors and exhibition space. What decisions and strategies have determined this success? Managing Director Mike Blackman answers, once again.
“We listened to the demands of exhibitors and visitors and gave them what they wanted”. A seemingly simple answer, which underlies a series of in-depth and timely analyses. “At the time, there were a number of trade fairs (some no longer exist) that seemed more like shops to hang out and chat than places of business between companies and customers”, adds Mike Blackman. “We used to be able to bring professionals from the systems integration and AV supply chain. This made exhibitors happy to attend, as they had the chance to meet the right people”.
This does not mean feeling ‘arrived’. The question after each edition of ISE is always: ok, now what do we need to do to maintain these levels? One of the strengths of the event has always been the ability to sit around a table and talk about it. “The good things, were they good because we did them well, or were we just lucky? And the bad things, were they bad because we did them badly and we could have done them better? This attitude has helped us evolve year after year. We have learnt and improved in different aspects”, explains Mike Blackman. Looking at each individual ISE, we see this evolution in terms of companies and technology areas.
The Technology Zone strategy
A large part of running a trade fair concerns the organisation of the exhibition areas.
“When we started, the idea was to mix everything up, to allow visitors to discover things they might not even be looking for. Easy, when you have 100-200 exhibitors”, explains the managing director. Thus, in 2008, the Technology Zones were born, the result of a careful discussion with sponsors. “The largest companies can be located anywhere, other companies with complementary solutions find the advantage of being close to the big ones. In turn, these in any case increase the area of action”. A second aspect concerned the target group: ISE had become too big to be visited by everyone in one day or a couple of days. We worked to allow the professionals to concentrate on the most important things first, and then move on to the rest. Gradually we refined and corrected the shot, always trying to offer the best.
“I always think our biggest risk is to be the number one show in the world”, Blackman concludes. “To stay there, we have to always be on the edge and ask ourselves how to maintain the competitive edge and, above all, how to keep exhibitors and visitors happy”.
Read the full interview with Mike Blackman in the News section of the ISE website.
