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This month's PALME exhibition in Dubai will offer key insights into the economic health of the Middle East pro audio, lighting and live event production industries. Aaron Greenwood caught up with exhibition director Alex Heuff and asked him what sort of impact wider economic issues would have on this year's show.
With tradeshows typically providing a barometer of the economic state of a particular industry sector, many pundits are eagerly awaiting the opening of PALME later this month to see what sort of impact the global economic downturn is having on the professional audio, lighting and live event production industries.
Information released to date by organiser IIR Exhibitions portends to a smaller event compared to last year, with both exhibitor numbers and floorspace down.
Exhibitions director Alex Heuff concedes "the new challenges facing the global markets and current economic climate have impacted on this year's show".
"Taking into account the new industry dynamics, floorspace has been reduced to 15,000 sqm, compared to 17,000sqm last year," he explains. "This year, we are welcoming more than 160 exhibitors representing 600 brands, compared to 200 exhibitors in 2008."
Heuff says the current climate has forced IIR to take a more creative approach to organising the event compared to previous years.
"The economic downturn has provided an opportunity to develop new ideas, introduce new features and respond to feedback received following last year's show," he says.
"This year, we have implemented an extensive marketing campaign promoting the event to a broader international audience. Indeed, an economic recession is a time when communication must prevail."
This approach has coincided with a shift in the demographic breakdown of exhibitors and delegates attending the show. According to Heuff, this year's PALME will feature fewer exhibitors from emerging territories and more from traditionally strong source markets such as the United States and Europe, reversing a trend towards the opposite which had emerged in recent years.
PALME 2009 Conference highlights
PALME 2009 will feature an expanded programme of conference seminars and workshops. The AV & Systems Integration Solutions conference will be staged over two days. The conference will kick off with the Install Roundtable Forum, which is being pitched as an opportunity for AV systems integrations specialists to network and discuss key technical and commercial issues impacting their businesses.
Later, the session will turn its focus to cases studies presented by companies including Omnix Media Networks, LOBO and Bond Communications. Key speakers will include Jasper Whitaker, head of business development for Omnix Media Networks, and Alex Hennig, creative director at LOBO.
The second day of the conference, which is dedicated to showcasing the latest innovations in lighting technology, will feature a keynote address from Luz Lighting Design's Matthieu Larivee.
A series of seminars will run in parallel to the conference. The seminars will focus on a variety of topics including event safety and rigging as well as product seminars from companies including Da-lite, Extron, BSS, SAE Institute, Taiden, TSL, Tannoy, PMK, and Robert Juliet.
The event360 conference, which runs over five days, will focus on the key commercial challenges facing the live events production sector in the Middle East, particularly in light of the current economic downturn. Keynote speakers will include Ric Birch, master of ceremonies and creative consultant for the Beijing 2008 Olympics and Fatima Sadiqi, director general, Fes Festival of Sacred Music, Morocco.
PALME will also play host to the internationally acclaimed Syn-Aud-Con seminar on April 26 and 27.
The seminar, which will be presented by audio technology expert Pat Brown, will cover a variety of subjects including sound system tuning, loudspeaker equalisation and configuration.
Further information and conference passes are available from the PALME website located at www.palme-me.com.
PALME 2009 will feature an expanded programme of conference seminars and workshops. The AV & Systems Integration Solutions conference will be staged over two days. The conference will kick off with the Install Roundtable Forum, which is being pitched as an opportunity for AV systems integrations specialists to network and discuss key technical and commercial issues impacting their businesses.
Later, the session will turn its focus to cases studies presented by companies including Omnix Media Networks, LOBO and Bond Communications. Key speakers will include Jasper Whitaker, head of business development for Omnix Media Networks, and Alex Hennig, creative director at LOBO.
The second day of the conference, which is dedicated to showcasing the latest innovations in lighting technology, will feature a keynote address from Luz Lighting Design's Matthieu Larivee.
A series of seminars will run in parallel to the conference. The seminars will focus on a variety of topics including event safety and rigging as well as product seminars from companies including Da-lite, Extron, BSS, SAE Institute, Taiden, TSL, Tannoy, PMK, and Robert Juliet.
The event360 conference, which runs over five days, will focus on the key commercial challenges facing the live events production sector in the Middle East, particularly in light of the current economic downturn. Keynote speakers will include Ric Birch, master of ceremonies and creative consultant for the Beijing 2008 Olympics and Fatima Sadiqi, director general, Fes Festival of Sacred Music, Morocco.
PALME will also play host to the internationally acclaimed Syn-Aud-Con seminar on April 26 and 27.
The seminar, which will be presented by audio technology expert Pat Brown, will cover a variety of subjects including sound system tuning, loudspeaker equalisation and configuration.
Further information and conference passes are available from the PALME website located at www.palme-me.com.
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