With the dust settling on ISE, it’s now time to reflect on an incredible return to in-person shows and the debut of the show in Barcelona’s amazing Fira Gran Via. For Maverick, we unveiled our new ski themed stand, which took visitors on a journey through a Ski Shop, Ski School and Ski HQ, demonstrating our extensive portfolio of vendors and solutions. The journey throughout the stand focused particularly on the smart spaces narrative, amplifying data driven spaces; how technology can enhance user experiences and data collection for better business outcomes.
Visitors enjoyed seeing a variety of IOT solutions that collected data to inform better decision making in a variety of different environments; including retail purchasing patterns, visitor demographics and even the recording of temperature and humidity to better the experience of individuals visiting the stand.
Throughout the show, the narrative from the industry was clear, employees want flexible hybrid work options and offices need to be worthwhile to visit, a direct correlation to the way of working that people have become accustomed to over the past few years.
For us as a distributor this was a driving force for our stand design, ensuring that we encompassed the whole hybrid paradox narrative rather than just showcasing the solutions we sell.
A specific highlight for myself was being able to showcase Neat as part of that narrative. This pioneering video device company from Norway, began partnering with us back in April to allow us to distribute their complete product portfolio to our customers in 18 countries across Europe. For Maverick, Neat shares a common vision of thinking differently about meetings and meeting spaces, enabling exceptional collaboration for all teams, regardless of whether working remotely or dialing in from the office.
At ISE specifically we were given the opportunity to be the one of the first distributors to demonstrate their newly Teams accredited solutions to our customers. The experience was fantastic, and really showed how Maverick’s ‘Smart Meetings’ portfolio delivers collaboration solutions specifically tailored to each customer’s specific needs.
Another exciting addition to our portfolio announced at ISE, was our partnership with world-leading audio and microphone manufacturer and communications specialist Sennheiser. This is a great opportunity for us to offer best-in-class audio solutions for large meeting rooms. By adding the newly announced TeamConnect Intelligent Speaker (TC ISP) and bestselling TeamConnect Ceiling 2 microphone (TCC2), we are able to provide more advanced audio and collaboration technology and pave the way for meeting equity within smart spaces.
The show was also an opportunity for us to have some fun with our vendors products, you may have seen our social media campaign over the week which focused around the concept of #HunttheHub. Through this campaign we were able to demonstrate the true versatility of the Microsoft Surface Hub; doing on the go demos from stand to stand. The Hub is a perfect example of how a piece of technology can dissolve boundaries for hybrid teams so they can inclusively engage everyone’s voices, faces and ideas within meetings.
Visiting other stands, it was amazing to see the revolutionary technology our industry is producing. Among the best in show for me was the Logitech Scribe, an AI-powered whiteboard camera for Microsoft Teams Rooms that automatically enhances the colour and contrast of dry erase markers, making text and sketches easier to read. Scribe’s built-in AI delivers an incredible transparency effect, allowing participants to see ‘through’ the presenter for an unobstructed view of the whiteboard. Now you may not think these technologies are particularly remarkable, considering the stadium size immersive LED experiences on offer throughout the show, but for me it’s the seamless integration of analogue and digital, and how technology can assist us in making our experiences more accessible and intuitive.
Moving away from technology we also integrated an analogue data collection activity to the stand. The data board which we first used at UCEXPO; which not only informed the customer journey through the stand but provided key information into the ever-evolving way that companies are working post pandemic, and the significant barriers hindering their transition.
When discussing why their companies utilised various video conferencing platforms, some stated that their conference choice was dependent on various factors including whether meetings featued internal or external stakeholders, geographical location of clients, or whether live collaboration, document sharing or whiteboarding was necessary.
This simple survey reinforced the need for perspective as the new normal way of working evolves. Whether that perspective means investing in a platform for collaboration or software that facilitates meetings with on-site and remote workers – your technology and how you train your employees will directly affect experience and productivity.
It’s a lot of food for thought, and even though I leave another show with a yearning for more answers on how our industry can keep evaluating and adapting. I also leave with a feeling or pride and affirmation that regardless of the barriers our industry faces, we will always come back stronger.
Written by Simon Kitson Smart Meetings Director Maverick Europe.
