News & Trends

The recent Congreso AVIXA has left many lessons learned, not only for those who have witnessed its conference program but also for the team of organizers of this virtual event aimed at professionals from the Spanish and Portuguese-speaking AV industry.

Conducted virtually, the live steaming program took place from October 20–23. For the North American colleagues, the Congreso AVIXA started early in the morning; the South Americans enjoyed it at noon, and for the Europeans, the lectures came in the afternoon.

If something was demonstrated in this congress, there are no barriers for those who desire to acquire new knowledge or establish relationships with other AV industry professionals. Neither the distance, the time zones, nor the cultural differences between those who are part of a diverse Ibero-American community. If having presenters from ten different countries is a good achievement, the fact that attendees have registered from 35 different countries is a big success.

Using an events platform based on the smartphone screen and limiting the conference time to just 40 minutes gave the congress a touch of mobility and dynamism, which was well received by the participants. Of course, these two decisions left several lessons learned to improve the next virtual and hybrid events.

The number of 43 sessions held during the Congreso AVIXA allows broadening the panorama of topics. But what is surprising, and very encouraging, is the number of 4,478 people who have (live and on-demand) attended the conferences. And that is why we affirm that distance or language are not obstacles for those who want to strengthen their knowledge level.

Just as encouraging as these figures, was listening to colleagues from the Live Events sector, who had an active participation during the congress. Even though their business was one of the first to suffer the impact of the pandemic, the ideas and messages they shared in their conferences were marked by innovation, creativity and the transformation of their services towards a world of hybrid events with great possibilities for the future.

Listening to professionals who are not directly part of the AV industry was also a great learning experience during the congress. The vision of an expert Marketing professor, such as Luciana de Araujo Gil (Chile/Brazil) or of a journalist, such as Paul Lara, business editor of one of the main Mexican newspapers, was very refreshing because it shows us that our industry does not it is oblivious to market conditions and changes. Keeping our eyes and ears wide open, asking the right questions, and reaching out to other industries is necessary to keep up-to-date and better understand our customers and users.

The Congreso AVIXA also reminded us that there are colleagues, such as architects and lighting designers, with whom we must work closely to develop solutions and generate experiences for clients and users. The conference of the lighting expert María del Pilar Martínez highlighted the importance of collaborating from the beginning of the projects.

And since we are talking about the market, one of the most attractive sessions is the one that the AVIXA Market Intelligence team offered to the congress participants. This new virtual format helped us to have Peter Hansen, an economic analyst at AVIXA, who, in addition to speaking very fluent Spanish, shared precious data that will help us understand the current scenario and prospects for business in the world, and particularly those related to the AV industry.

Most of the 43 presentations, from Digital Signage or audio to the AVIXA Women's Council, agreed that AV industry professionals and companies need to adapt and transform to succeed in a world that adjusts its priorities with speed never seen before. The opening keynote, entitled "The AV Transformation," is not to be missed, as it offers a valuable message about the character of our industry and the strengths that will help us to be the main protagonists and not just spectators of the changes that the world will experience in the immediate future. The words of Martín Saúl, who has been elected Secretary-Treasurer of the Board by AVIXA membership, are an excellent reminder of why we chose to dedicate our professional lives to the world of integrated audiovisual experiences. You cannot miss it!

There are still several days to take advantage of all the learning options that the Congreso AVIXA offers in its on-demand format. So, if you want to put your knowledge of Spanish or Portuguese into practice, click on this link and listen to what your Ibero-American colleagues discussed in the first edition of this event.

* Data updated to November 12th. This figure will grow as the Congreso AVIXA contents will continue to be available on-demand until November 20, 2020.