Integrated Systems Europe receives first mayor’s chain.
Tuesday 10 to Thursday 12 February 2015, Amsterdam RAI welcomed the Integrated Systems Europe (ISE) trade show. Over the past decade ISE has developed into one of the top events in Amsterdam RAI. With the international marketing campaign ‘Be the mayor of the world’s most compact metropolis’, Amsterdam RAI welcomes event organisers as the ‘mayor’ of Amsterdam for the duration of the event. On Tuesday 10 February, Maurits van der Sluis, Executive Vice President at Amsterdam RAI, handed the first mayor’s chain to Mike Blackman, Managing Director of ISE.
Every link in the mayor’s chain represents a unique element with which Amsterdam RAI helps organisers create a successful event. These include the Netherlands, Amsterdam, accessibility, knowledge & network, ROI, flexible configuration, services, meaningful experiences, innovation and sustainability.
“Amsterdam RAI wants events to be part of the city and vice versa,” says Maurits van der Sluis, Executive Vice President at Amsterdam RAI. “We help organisers to achieve their event goals and create a meaningful experience. This campaign is designed to inspire international organisers with the unique event possibilities of the RAI and the city of Amsterdam, and welcome them as a ‘mayor’. I am honoured to hand the first ever mayor’s chain to Mike Blackman.”
The success of ISE
ISE is the world’s largest trade show dedicated to professional AV and electronic systems integration. It has experienced rapid growth since 2005: from one hall for the first edition, the event now occupies the entire 100,000-plus square metres of the RAI complex and features 1,056 exhibitors. A record number of 54,684 visitors have registered for ISE 2015 and this figure is expected to continue growing in the years ahead. As a result, the British organiser has already decided to extend the exhibition period by one day to a total of four days from 2016 onwards. Amsterdam RAI and the city of Amsterdam are working closely together with the trade show organisers to continue to facilitate this growth.
International focus
Ten years ago, the RAI shifted its focus to large, international events, and now, in 2015, 70% of all events held in the RAI have an international character. This involves the RAI’s own B2B events as well as events organised by external exhibition and conference organisers. For this purpose Amsterdam RAI works closely with Amsterdam Marketing, the city marketing organisation of the Amsterdam metropolitan area, and the Netherlands Board of Tourism and Conventions (NBTC).
Photo caption: Maurits van der Sluis (left) and Mike Blackman (right).
Vicky is the co-founder of TravelDailyNews Media Network where she is the Editor-in Chief. She is also responsible for the daily operation and the financial policy. She holds a Bachelor's degree in Tourism Business Administration from the Technical University of Athens and a Master in Business Administration (MBA) from the University of Wales.
She has many years of both academic and industrial experience within the travel industry. She has written/edited numerous articles in various tourism magazines.
