Day 1 of Integrate 2023 is in the books and the feedback so far has been resoundingly positive. Another year removed from the pandemic, the show looks to have improved on its 2022 showing and it’s great to see the AV industry out in full force.

The first day started off like most Integrate shows, with an interesting State of the Industry panel. This year’s panel featured Tim Stackpool, David Allara, Dave Labuskes, Graham Barrett, Stacy Kempton and Tom Squillacioti. The panel looked at market changes, emerging trends and realistic insights into the future of AV solutions in Australia.

Also opening the show was the K-12 Conference, hosted by the Association for AV & Education Technology Management (AETM). Slated for the first morning, the K-12 Conference gives all those working in education rich insights into how AV can be worked into their classrooms, before attendees start wandering the floors for the latest and greatest solutions.

The K-12 Conference featured discussions on the post-COVID education environment, the most effective ways to connect the solutions and even took a look deep into the crystal ball with Mark Skehan, AKA The Bearded Tech.

A standout exhibitor from Day 1 was Neat with the Neat Board 50, the latest product in the Norwegian-based company’s range of easy-to-operate collaboration tech. Visitors got to play around with the first of its kind in the Asia Pacific region and watch how the next evolution in simple unified collaboration (UC) works its magic.

The 50” touchscreen can be wheeled around on its sound-absorbent base and effortlessly moved up or down, depending on the room it’s in. If the end user doesn’t want it on a stand, it can also be wall mounted wherever needed.

If you’re at the show and in need of a UC solution, look no further than Neat at stand G14.

What to check out with San Williams

If you find yourself near the Westan booth at Stand F38 be sure to drop in and check out the most sustainable product in their portfolio, the Philips Tableaux. The award-winning product is one of the first powerless ePaper displays, making it a perfect display solution for places like public venues, hospitality and food and beverage with areas that don’t allow cabling.

Another great product highlight of the show is Snap One’s OvrC found at Stand F29. OvrC is a support platform for professionals (free for Snap One partners) that allows users to remotely manage, configure and troubleshoot devices on the network. The main feature of this is the capability to pre-empt service calls and receive real-time notifications with issues including network problems.

Kordz Termination Challenge

Kordz is hosting a challenge at Integrate, the Terminator Challenge, looking for the fastest cabler at the show. Kordz is giving visitors the chance to take a timed Kordz RJ45 Crimp Termination with the top scores stuck on a leaderboard for all to see.

Participants in the competition enter in the opportunity to win daily prizes, compete with integrators across the globe and, most importantly, gain bragging rights among colleagues.

Connected magazine swung past the Kordz stand (A30) just after 4pm and this is what the leaderboard looked like: