Reflecting on an exciting EI Live! 2023

Following another year of hosting the epic AWE Village at EI Live! this September, AWE’s Managing Director, Stuart Tickle reflects on a buzzing and informative event in this recent article, written for the October issue of ERT magazine…

For the custom install market, EI Live! is one of the most anticipated dates in our diaries – a chance to come together, network, find out what’s new, who’s gone where and how the market is performing from the people at the forefront. All brands need platforms to show products and technologies, and all integrators need to monitor the market and keep up with trends and product development. EI Live! is the single largest event that enables it to happen within the UK, and so it is a very important show.

This year was a welcome return to a more solid EI Live! show, not throbbing but certainly enough buzz to keep the AWE team very busy throughout at the AWE Village. As always, the visitor quality was excellent, which meant I didn’t get much opportunity to walk the show floor as I was busy having lots of high-quality conversations. It felt like a step up from the past few years, which may have previously been impacted by external factors such as the additional bank holiday following the Queen’s death last year, and before that fuel strikes and COVID.

At the AWE Village – which is the largest stand on the show floor – we were showcasing our extensive distribution portfolio including premium brands such as Adeo, Bowers & Wilkins, BPS, Classé, Denon, Epson, Hisense, LG, Marantz, Panasonic, Rotel, Silent Gliss, Sony and URC. EI Live! holds a lot of value for AWE and the main reason we opt for such a large area is because we believe that an important benefit of exhibitions for installers is that they can actually see, hear and touch the latest kit – something you can’t experience via a website or on a video call.

This year, we invested in a new design and layout for the AWE Village, which included an Epson Demo Room showcasing the Epson EH-LS12000B True 4K Laser Projector, Hisense Demo Room with a first look at the new Hisense PX2-PRO Tri-Chroma Laser UST Projector 2023, a Sony area including the mighty VPL-GTZ380 4K Laser Projector, and a private café space for meetings and networking.

We found that there was a noticeable step-up in booth quality from several other companies too, which visually raises the bar at EI Live!, moving it further away from shell schemes to a show with clear investment coming in. This is great to see, as it not only elevates the perception of the show but also improves the visitor experience and will attract new visitors.

What was also clear at EI Live! is that, as per the magazine, there are more and more companies selling loads of brands. Is this a good thing? Well, I can’t see all of these companies thriving but what it does show is that there is an interest around our industry, and it is attracting new entrants.

One of the big industry topics in terms of AV right now is the new RP22 Recommended Practice for immersive audio guidelines. Having read and, as a company, contributed to the draft feedback on RP22, AWE was invited to participate in a launch meeting and discussion during the show. We are widely in favour of this new best practice for installation being introduced as enhanced guidelines supported by CEDIA were long overdue. However, there is a whole load of further questions and a lot of work to be done in terms of how this actually comes to market when you start talking products, as not all is as quite as straight forward as it seems. I’d recommend downloading and reading up on RP22 from the CEDIA website for more information and get involved in the open discussions that our industry has thrived upon.

In the evening on day one, we attended the Essential Install Smart Home Building Awards at the Village Hotel in Farnborough. It’s always a fun evening and a great time to catchup with industry friends, we were delighted to scoop three product awards on the night – including Best Projector for Sony VPL- XW7000ES, Best TV Display Conventional for Sony BRAVIA XR98X90LU 98”, and Best In-Wall or In-Ceiling Speaker for Bowers & Wilkins CI800 Series Diamond CWM8.3 D. We also celebrated another two awards won by our distributed partner brand HDAnywhere.

All in all, there was a sense that whilst there are economic headwinds the CI industry is an exciting place to be right now. The sector looks strong and will continue to grow over the coming years, particularly in the premium market as reflected on the show floor. Roll on EI Live! 2024…