Integrate 2023 was a success that saw the Australian AV industry get back together in the event’s second year co-located with the Security Exhibition. The show was even the host of a new cabling world record.

With several new and returning exhibitors as well as a range of Tech Talks, there was plenty for the industry to see including new products, industry trends and plenty of discussion.

“A major focus of both shows was the impact of AI and the opportunities and technologies on offer,” event manager Soren Norgaard says.

“The education programs were especially well attended with professionals keen to keep up to date with the rapid advancements we’re seeing in both industries.”

The Integrate and AVIXA Tech Talks featured a special emphasis on sustainability and the 14 panel discussions, courses and case studies provided invaluable key learnings. Plus, the free Thinkers Theatre program was well attended with a huge scope of popular topics such as residential opportunities, next-generation security and IoT, immersive projection, the 3G shutdown, robotics and touch screen technology.

A staple for the show is the AVIXA Women’s Council Forum which focused on leadership styles and building spaces for women to thrive in the AV industry. GPA director of global marketing, Ellesse Fehlberg, and Prismatic Group chief executive, Stacy Kempton, shared their first-hand industry experience on how to promote inclusivity.

Kordz Termination Challenge

The Kordz Termination Challenge drew strong interest at Integrate 2023, asking visitors to test their hand at timed Kordz RJ45 Crimp Termination. Connected magazine published the leaderboard at the end of each day but managed to see some of the heated competition first-hand.

The winner after the three days was Nathan from Seven Sound who, on Day 3 of the show, completed the task with a time of 35 seconds, a world-record time that beat the previous leader by one second.

“Nathan set this incredible time while taking back his first-place spot that John from Collab Tech Systems had stolen,” Kordz technical sales and marketing coordinator Josh Yammouni says.

“Nathan was holding the top spot for most of the day with a time of 44 seconds until John came in with an impressive time of 39 seconds. When Nathan heard he was knocked down to second place he came back fired up and secured the top spot again. There was some fierce competition between John and Nathan in the final hour of the show, as they were trading new personal best times until the very end.”

The Kordz Termination Challenge drew plenty of attention at shows across the world, including at ISE 2023, where the previous world record was set.

“We actually had a large range of people getting involved, from integrators with decades of experience to students that have never even terminated an RJ45 connector, we are really happy to be able to bring all these people together for some fun and friendly competition,” Josh says.

“There were some very exciting moments too, seeing top time scorers compete for very impressive times, the quickest time of 35 seconds is actually a world record. Can’t wait to see how the challenge goes at future events like the CEDIA Expo in Denver and the Australian CEDIA Tech Summit at SeaWorld.”