The second edition of Prolight + Sound Middle 2017 East concluded in Dubai, attracting 2,200 trade buyers from 50 countries – visitor attendance was also found to have grown 40% at the trade fair for entertainment, event, media and creation industries.

The strong visitor turnout was underlined by impressive live demonstrations of the latest professional audio-visual technologies from the likes of Robe, Monacor International, Bose, and Martin Professional, while local providers such as Procom, Venuetech, Prolab and Prosonic pulled all the stops at their stands to attract customers.

High-level discussions were plentiful among the 28 exhibitors from nine countries, including at SES Global’s stand, which signed a major deal with Production Technology (Protec) during the show.

Mark Cooper, SES Global’s Managing Director, said Protec placed an initial order with SES to provide new Power Distribution, Dimmers and Motor Controllers for their new set up in Saudi Arabia. The order, valued at just over AED750,000, is the first order for the new SES FLX dimmer system in the region.

“After trialling the unit at the recent Tomorrowland production, Protec’s Head of Lighting Aaron Russ was impressed with how easy the system was to use,” said Cooper. “The ability to switch each channel between a dimmer and dmx operated relay gives maximum flexibility in one unit. The order is made up of a number of these multi-channel racks, traditional hard power socapex units and also the new SES motor controllers. The order is the first of a two part process, firstly to kit out the Saudi operation and then to upgrade the existing Dubai based stock.”

Meanwhile, other exhibitors expressed their satisfaction with the outcome of Prolight + Sound Middle East 2017, including PROCOM Middle East. Rami Harfouch, the Business Development Manager, said: “We’ve had a really busy event, having serious discussions with walk-in potential customers.

“The show has allowed us the opportunity to reach out to the untapped markets. We’ve had qualitative visitors from all over the GCC and we expect a positive ROI from the exhibition. We look forward to the next edition, which we believe will be bigger and better than before.”

Sanjeev Singh, Managing Director at AVISS, added: “It’s been a great experience at with really great footfall and qualitative visitors. We’ve been interacting with the other exhibitors as well, which gives us an insight on what the latest trends in the industry are.”

A major focal point of Prolight + Sound Middle East 2017 was the inaugural Events Technology & Entertainment Development Forum, while the Dante Certification workshops on the final day was also hugely popular.

A busy educational and informative programme that featured government representatives and leading entertainment professionals ensured the conference room was always full, with delegates mingling with exhibitors during breaks.

Ahmed Pauwels, CEO of the show’s organiser Messe Frankfurt Middle East, said: “This is an exciting time for the Middle East entertainment industry, and the progress it has made in a relatively short space of time is testament to what is possible when extraordinary vision is combined with technical know-how and innovative minds.

“The rousing response for the 2nd edition of Prolight + Sound Middle East confirms the tremendous business potential that exists in the booming events and entertainment industry in the region that is waiting to be unlocked. The Middle East, which is now firmly on map as a major destination for international events and a great venue for events with global scale and reach, will continue to be an increasingly significant consumer of the latest AV technology and services,” added Pauwels.

Prolight + Sound Middle East is the fifth instalment of the international network of Prolight + Sound events worldwide, and is co-located with Light Middle East, the region’s dedicated exhibition, conference, and awards for lighting design and technology.

The third edition of Prolight + Sound Middle East will take place in October 2018.

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