ISE’s main man

Don’t get me wrong – riding Harleys through the countryside with the wind in my hair and flies in my teeth does get me going. But reading about the latest sparkplugs and engine performance figures does not excite me.’ Mike Blackman, managing director of Intergrated Systems Events (ISE) says this as he describes how he first became enthralled with the idea of a show devoted to all things technological.

ISE was born from a call from one of Blackman’s former bosses, exhibition organiser Cherif Moujabber, who was consulting for InfoComm. ‘He explained the concept and the associations behind it (InfoComm, CEDIA and NSCA) and after a bit of research, the whole idea excited me. I’m a technology fan so this was subject matter that really interested me,’ he says.

The rest, you might say, is history: after a slow beginning with the first ISE in 2004 – ‘it was a tough sell’ admits Blackman – the 2009 exhibition was bigger than ever, posting 536 exhibitors from 41 countries and bumper visitor figures of 24,912.

That’s not to say the recession has left ISE unscathed. The Amsterdam show saw notable pull-outs from the likes of Sony and Barco, while Blackman has had to postpone its Middle East and Africa edition of the show.

But Blackman is nothing if not pragmatic: although 70 per cent of ISE 2010 has already been sold, his forecast is conservative and he anticipates the same turnout as 2009.

‘Obviously, the current climate means that we have to be more creative in how we sell ISE and motivate our exhibitors and visitors to attend the show. Exhibitions are a non-tangible product – we aren’t just selling square metres in Amsterdam, we’re selling the opportunity to do business and make money. But at the same time, we can’t give any guarantees,’ he says.

Blackman knows this more than most: he started out in magazine sales and moved onto exhibitions and events. His experience spans more than 25 years and takes in everything from rock shows to running the UK’s biggest computer show in the 80s and 90s, not to mention founding his own marketing consultancy with a client portfolio that included Microsoft, Texas Instruments and BMW to name just a few.

He was born in Guyana and moved to the UK as a six-year old. He sees himself as British, but now lives in Munich and adds: ‘I’m probably more European than most Europeans.’

His biggest challenge now, he says, ‘is the rapid growth we’ve been experiencing with ISE and adapting an organisational structure to deal with it. The first ISE in Geneva was driven by three of us, with a lot of support from the US. Now we have 11 people, plus sales agents all over the world. And we have a host of regular third-party partners with whom we work, including MidExpo currently, to organise ISR in Russia.’

It might be work now, but Blackman still gets a personal kick out of technology: his living room sports a 46in LCD TV on the wall, with surround sound in-wall speakers, supported by a high-quality British audio system. And when it comes to movies and major sporting events, the family rolls down the projection screen and switches everything over to a 1080p HD projector. And yes, on occasions, he still gets into his leathers and onto the Harley.

CV

2003-present: Integrated Systems Events, managing director, running key European event for audio visual and electronic systems integration

1998-2003: TotalM.com AG, CEO and co-founder, an internet music distribution and promotion platform

1993-98: Blackman Consulting, founder

Pre 1998: IDG (International Data Group) World Expo Corporation, managing director of German subsidiary based in Munich.

Montgomery Group, business development director Europe and managing director Germany and France for technology events. Geschaftsfuhrer IDG World Expo Corporation Germany (Part of IDG Publications).