EI LIVE! 2022 Review


October/November 2022 ertonline.co.uk


12


It was good to be back! By Stuart Tickle, Managing Director at AWE


I


t is fair to say that EI Live! 2022 was hotly anticipated, with positive noises coming out of the industry meetups, chats and forums in the lead-up to the show. Previous shows had been disrupted by COVID and last year we had the fuel strikes, so surely nothing could thwart attendance to this one… Unfortunately,


the death of Queen Elizabeth


II was obviously a big moment of sadness for the country, but with the show being the week prior to her funeral, it is unclear whether the show visitor numbers were specifically impacted. The numbers were sufficient, but with the industry already very busy, it is possible the extra bank holiday squeezed workloads, resulting in some integrators sending fewer people. Visitor quality, however, was excellent as always.


It was good to be back! There was a positive vibe and the show floor felt like it had grown up and is really starting to reflect the diverse supplier base in our industry. It was great to see new names, some small shell schemes dipping their toe in to the EI Live! water, but also some notable multi-national companies with high quality stands – the type that travel around the European shows.


I am certain that the show was of high value to visitors, both to see the latest kit and meet with industry peers and colleagues. To put in context how important we consider the show, the AWE Village consisted of dedicated areas of interest separated by brand including distinct visual, audio and smart home control areas, plus dedicated viewing rooms for Sony and Epson projection. We had a first


showing of the LG Objet Easel TV as well as the Epson LS800 UST projector.


It takes 15 of us and two full days to build the stand; the reason we go so large is because one of the biggest benefits to attend an exhibition is to actually see, hear or touch the latest versions of the kit you use, but also to discover the best of the things you don’t. That cannot be done over a Teams call, website


or YouTube video. As great as all those platforms are, nothing beats being at a physical event to really understand what it is you may be specifying. That is also why we have invested so much into our show apartment at AWE HQ.


Smart Building Awards The evening between the two show days is when the organiser hosts its annual Smart Building Awards. These awards are a good mix of best product, installer and supplier categories with the winners selected by an independent panel of experts. AWE picked up four awards on the night! Best Security Solution – Ring X Line, Best Dedicated Touchscreen Controller – URC TKP-8600, Best Integrated TV Display – LG G2 OLED, and Best Projector – Sony VPL-XW7000ES.


The event is a fun one. It carries kudos but is not


too serious in format and is certainly established as a good industry night where you can “network” into the early hours, should you choose. Day two started slowly, perhaps because of the previous evening’s festivities, but the visitor traffic built steadily and looking around I was pleased to see my team chatting to people throughout the day.


So, all in all, we rate the show as very good and encourage any dealer with an interest in integration to visit in 2023! If you would like to know more in the meantime, contact us at connect@awe-europe.com.


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