Time seemed to have stopped in the large Fira de Barcelona venue in Gran Via. Its activity was paralyzed with the cancellation of the Mobile World Congress (MWC) in early February 2020, when preparations had already invaded the complex and had to be stopped abruptly. The last shows that had been held in person were the Smart City Expo and Nice One, at the end of 2019. During the long hiatus that the pandemic has imposed on trade fair activity, the Gran Via venue was set up as a provisional hospital, preparing to receive covid patients if ICUs became saturated. Luckily, all the beds that occupied some pavilions accustomed to hosting stands and congress attendees were never used. Likewise, its kitchens were activated to supply menus to health centers throughout Spain.
During all these months, the venue has been waiting for the physical return of congresses. Its little brother, the one in Plaza Espanya, already experienced a test at the end of September with the Saló de l'Ocupació and BizBarcelona. Adapted to the new context marked by the pandemic, one-way routes, distances, screens at the stands, thermometers and hydroalcoholic gel dispensers became the new protagonists of these shows.
At Fira Gran Via, the beginning of the reactivation will be marked by the small-scale premiere of Integrated Systems Europe (ISE), the world's largest audiovisual fair. Its executive director, Mike Blackman, is proud to kick it off. "It's a signal not only for our industry, but for the in-person events industry and for everyone, showing that business can be done," he defends.
Aware that the fair's grand premiere in Barcelona will be in February 2022, Blackman defines the two days that ISE 2021 will last as an appetizer to anticipate everything that will come next year. And, making a local comparison, he compares them to tapas. The organizers of the show estimate that about 5,000 congress attendees will end up attending, the vast majority from Spain, but there will also be participants from Germany, Italy, France, Portugal and even the United States, a country with more difficulties to travel to the Catalan capital. To reach those who have not been able to travel, all content will be offered in digital format, in line with the virtual experiences that have predominated in recent months.
With an expected attendance much lower than the 90,000 attendees it received in Amsterdam before the pandemic, ISE will occupy about 4,000 square meters in pavilion 2 of the Gran Via venue, which on Monday was still finishing the last preparations. A size 50 times smaller than in previous editions. There will be space for networking and discovering the novelties of the audiovisual industry, one of the greatest exponents during the current crisis. About 80 exhibitors will participate, with brands such as Alfalite, Arthur Holm, Barco, Biamp, Brightsign, d&b audiotechnik, Lang, Nsign.tv, Panasonic, and Shure. The Barcelona City Council and the Generalitat will also be present.
Measures for covid
As was done with the Saló de l'Ocupació and BizBarcelona, Fira de Barcelona has reconfigured the distribution of stands and stages that will be at ISE to comply with safety and hygiene measures for covid, in addition to temperature taking and the proliferation of hydroalcoholic gel dispensers. An additional layer of protection has been added, which will require arriving a little in advance to the fair.
To gain access, congress attendees will have to take an antigen test and present a negative result before entering. These will be done in pavilion 1 of Fira Gran Via, in an open space, where first contact details must be provided before proceeding to take the test and wait for the results. From the moment of access until the SMS is received, it does not take much more than half an hour.
Before Mobile
ISE will precede MWC, which this year has moved its traditional celebration during the last week of February to June, just as ISE has done, which also usually takes place in February. For Blackman, the two days his show will last will serve as a test for Mobile, considering that they use very similar coronavirus protocols and that, under normal conditions, they have comparable magnitudes.
This common learning has also occurred in the opposite direction, explains Blackman, who has received from Mobile the necessary information about the venue and the city that would host them. "We learn from each other," explains the executive. And he assures that they do not compete with each other: "We are technology fairs and there are synergies between us, but we focus on different divisions. We do not conflict." A clear difference in this year's ISE edition compared to Mobile will be that at ISE there will be paper accreditations, the kind that hang around the neck, perhaps as a sign that everything is starting to return.