July/August 2005
Best Practices: Risk tolerant

ISE affirms competitors can collaborate in equal equity partnership
By Cathy Chatfield-Taylor

InfoComm, CEDIA EXPO and NSCA Systems Integration Expo sometimes compete for customers in the United States, but in Europe their pooled resources produced a new Integrated Systems event that may double in size not once but twice.

When the International Communications Industries Association (ICIA, www.infocomm.org) announced plans to launch Integrated Systems Events LLC (www.iseurope.org) in equal equity partnership with the Custom Electronic Design and Installation Association (CEDIA, www.cedia.org) and the National Systems Contractors Association (NSCA, www.nsca.org), experts speculated that this growth strategy had moderate risk (“What’s Your Risk Tolerance?” EXPO November/December 2003). The long-distance launch of a new brand in a crowded market could have overstepped the associations’ reach, but hiring local Managing Director Mike Blackman, who could sell the “solutions show” to Europeans, proved critical.

“Mike’s job is to represent the associations,” says Randy Lemke, Ph.D., Executive Director, ICIA. “He’s our spokesperson to the world.”

Based in Munich, Germany, Blackman reports directly to Lemke, who leverages ICIA’s 10 years of experience taking InfoComm overseas. They organized the first Integrated Systems Europe (ISE), held Feb. 3–5, 2004, in Geneva, with a handful of local staff. For subsequent events, Blackman retained Congrex Holland BV (www.congrex.com) to provide full-service show management. He now supervises Congrex, as well as coordinates sales in the United Kingdom, France, Germany and Benelux (Belgium, The Netherlands and Luxembourg).

Overseeing the joint-venture partnership is a board of directors comprised of the executive directors from each association, one member from each association, and three exhibitors that are common to all three associations. The board meets twice a year, at ISE in Europe and at InfoComm International in the United States. In the interim, the three executive directors jointly make policy decisions. An education committee comprised of vice presidents from each association plans the conference, and public relations and marketing committees advise the Congrex team members who perform these functions. This structure, with no one association having a controlling interest, works.

The first ISE drew 3,420 visitors from 60 countries and 120 exhibitors from 22 countries. The second edition sold out. Held Jan. 26–28, 2005, in Amsterdam. the show attracted 7,401 visitors from 78 countries and 220 exhibitors from 27 countries. Blackman says Amsterdam was the preferred location of a majority of exhibitors. And he expects ISE 2006 to double again. Scheduled for Feb. 1–3, 2006, in Brussels, pre-booked space already exceeds the total for ISE 2005.

Though their goals going into the partnership differed slightly, all three associations see ISE as a platform for U.S. manufacturers to expand international sales and for European members to access new education and networking opportunities.

“In Europe, you get successful conferences and successful exhibitions, but there are very few exhibitions and conferences that are successful,” Blackman says. “We’re trying to change that model.” In it’s third year, the conference will feature more European speakers, select sessions translated into French and German, cheaper tickets to individual sessions, and the option to buy one ticket for entry into all sessions.

Using ISE as a focal point, ICIA has added about 35 percent more international members in less than two years, surpassing the goal of 5–10 percent annual growth internationally.

For CEDIA, ISE opened a channel in Europe. “Our key goal was to provide manufacturing members with exposure to European dealerships,” says CEDIA Executive Director Billilynne Keller. “We’ve found partnering with other organizations to be a much more efficient way to reach more people.”

For NSCA, the exhibition responds to the 77 percent of exhibitors who expressed interest in international business. NSCA Executive Director Chuck Wilson says, “We listened to what the exhibitors had to say, and they were right.”