AVIXA senior VP of expositions and events Rochelle Richardson tamped down speculation about InfoComm 2021 moving from its scheduled dates in June after Integrated Systems Europe 2021 was postponed from February to June earlier in the day.
“InfoComm will take place in June,” Richardson told CI in an interview this afternoon. “There are no changes, no intended changes and no anticipated changes to that. The only thing that could affect that would be a change in the pandemic that makes it impossible to gather at that time.”
Barring that, though, Richardson and her team are looking at InfoComm 2021 as “a welcome back to the professional AV industry” after just about every show on the North American calendar has been canceled, postponed or transformed into a virtual event since mid-March, including InfoComm 2020.
Richardson is expecting InfoComm 2021 to be “a very robust event” and says she’s already “excited about it,” even though planning for the show remains in the relatively early stages at this point.
Related: Why InfoComm 2020 Connected Virtual Model Has Staying Power in AV Industry
“We don’t want what was necessary in terms of health and safety with ISE to take away from the excitement of InfoComm,” says Richardson, who says she’s not concerned about having the two shows within the same month next year.
“A unique audience attends InfoComm and a unique audience attends ISE,” she says, noting InfoComm’s audience is primarily comprised of attendees from North and South America, while ISE draws crowds largely from Europe and Asia.
There’s about a 5 percent crossover among attendees, says Richardson.
How ISE and InfoComm 2021 Can Co-Exist
“There’s still a tremendous opportunity for exhibitors and sponsors to see a unique audience,” says Richardson. “There’s value for exhibitors to participate in both shows and logistically it should be possible.”
Richardson says “should” because ISE hasn’t officially announced the new dates for its postponed 2021 event yet. AVIXA and CEDIA co-own ISE and AVIXA CEO David Labuskes was among the board members who voted in support of ISE’s plan to move that show to June, according to an ISE announcement today.
There has been “no discussion around a change in plans for our calendar of events,” says Richardson, meaning those who have called for and speculated about a permanent flip of dates for InfoComm and ISE will be disappointed again.
Richardson echoed ISE managing director Mike Blackman in saying ISE’s move is a one-time deal.
“We’ve had to be flexible, had to be agile during this pandemic,” says Richardson, who spearheaded the creation of the InfoComm 2020 Connected virtual show when the in-person event was canceled in March.
“Our concern is around the well-being and safety of our attendees. We want to make a decision that’s best serving of all these individuals,” she says.