August 2020 www.avnews.co.uk Page 14 Back to school?


Bryan Denyer looks at devel- opments in secondary and tertiary education in the light of the pandemic.


Page 20


Mike Blackman on the outlook for ISE


Mike Blackman is just back from a promotional tour of Barcelona. He reports on the prospects for a “good and sa” ISE.


ExCeL London announces plans to reopen for exhibitions


Following the announcement that business events and con- ferences can restart from 1st October, ExCeL London has outlined its reopening plan, for safe, organised events. Jeremy Rees, CEO, ExCeL London ex- plains: “We are delighted that the government has confirmed the timetable for when business events and conferences can re- sume. Having played a full role


in supporting the NHS, provid- ing all of our facilities for the Nightingale


Hospital, we are


now looking forward to playing an equally active role in the na- tion’s economic recovery.” “The vast majority of the ven- ue (90%) has been restored to its original state, with the remaining space secured as equipment storage for NHS Nightingale. This ongoing sup- port will not impact the normal


operation of our venue and we look forward to hosting safe, se- cure, and successful business events and conferences from 1st October onwards.” ExCeL has been working with the AEV (Association of Event Venues) and other key stake- holders to develop the All Se- cure Standard, an industry wide benchmark to enable the safe return of organised events. The announcement came a little too late for UC Expo as an in-person event this year – see P 20 for details of the postponement of the in-person event and its replacement by the virtual UC X.


The vast majority of the venue (90%) has been restored to its original state, with the remain- ing space secured as equipment storage for NHS Nightingale.


Mike Blackman describes


prospects for ISE Mike Blackman. MD of the ISE organisation reports on his fact-finding visit to Fira de Barcelona. “I just got back last night doing some PR on their local TV - media interviews and meetings with government and various associations,” said Blackman. ““What I can tell you is that, from meeting and talking with the Span- ish government, Spain takes the pandemic very seriously, and they react strongly about it because they don't want to get the same sort of numbers they had at the very beginning. We've been working together with FIRA and the risk miti- gation plan they have created.


We feel reasonably confident in actually making sure that we can put on a safe and good ex- hibition.”


scale Verizon welcomed 390 new employees this month after of- ficially closing the deal to ac- quire BlueJeans Network, Inc. Keeping businesses connected has always been a priority for Verizon. Adding BlueJeans to Verizon’s Advanced Commu- nications portfolio is critical now more than ever to keep businesses, from small organ- isations to some of the world’s largest multinational brands, operating at the highest level. BlueJeans


products com-


Read the full interview with Mike Blackman on Page 20.


TAP INTO TEAMS MEETINGS


Logitech Tap for Microsoft Teams Powered by Lenovo ThinkSmart Edition Tiny


www.tdmaverick.eu


plement Verizon's mobile-first business solutions, like One Talk, and will be deeply inte- grated into Verizon’s current and future 5G product road- map. Regularly cited as a


Free touchscreen cleaning kit with every CTOUCH Riva


CTOUCH UK has announced that all its latest touchscreen models in the UK will ship with a specially developed screen cleaning kit. The initia- tive comes as a result of the recent COVID-19 pandemic, and the importance of keeping hands and surfaces clean. Gregg Ringer, Head of UK Market Development for CTOUCH, commented: “In a time where surface cleaning is at the forefront of everyone’s minds, we want to ensure we are doing our bit to help our customers. As a company, we have launched a series of ini- tiatives which ensure we are as environmentally and social- ly aware as we can be, and this is another example of many more to come. We want to pro- vide peace of mind for our us- ers, so they are as comfortable


as possible when using our new Riva touchscreen.” The branded ‘Wipe & Shine’ kits will ship with all the new CTOUCH Riva touchscreens. For customers who have al- ready


purchased, they can


also claim theirs through the CTOUCH website.


Sidwick and Hammersley join Collabtech


Collabtech, a global provider of collaboration and AV enablement solutions has appointed former Maverick chief Jon Sidwick as President, as part of a growth and innovation strategy designed to help people work better to- gether.


As the largest indepen-


dent solutions business in the market, Collabtech provides best in class, physical and virtual en- ablement services in over 110 countries. Working through the channel to support integrators and end users, Collabtech’s cli- ents include manufacturers, dis- tributors and platform partners as well as integrators in UC, IT and AV.


See a full-length interview with CTouch’s Francois Barlinckhoff see Page 8 of this issue.


BlueJeans merger offers advantages of


market-leading video confer- encing and collaboration tool, BlueJeans enables cloud- based meetings and large, in- teractive events that are sim- ple, scalable and secure. “Supporting businesses of all sizes with best-in-class solutions is in Verizon’s DNA,” said Tami Erwin, CEO, Verizon Business. “BlueJeans is a phenomenal product that of- fers the security and scalabil- ity that are imperative to our customers, and we’re eager to amplify their reach across our global network.”


BlueJeans' founders and employees join Verizon as Ver- izon employees and will work together to lead the continued


growth and innovation of the business. For more informa- tion on BlueJeans by Verizon solutions see the post-acqui- sition interview with Blue- Jean’s Paul Scholey in AVN News sister title UC News at www.ucnews.co.uk. Tami Erwin, CEO of Verizon Business. “Collaboration and communications have be- come top of the agenda for businesses of all sizes and in all sectors in recent months. We are excited to combine the power of BlueJeans’ video platform with Verizon Busi- ness’ connectivity networks, platforms


and solutions to meet our customers’ needs.”


Jon Sidwick will spearhead the innovation and growth strategy for the business which includes establishing a European head- quarters in the UK. Maverick Collaboration lead Jane Ham- mersley will also join the busi- ness as Senior Vice President Global Alliances, with the mis- sion to work with the business’s clients to develop solutions to suit the rapidly evolving world of collaboration.


Continued on page 9


The Collabtech team – Jon Sid- wick. Shawn Leonard and Jane Hammersley.


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