AV Interview: Soren Norgaard, Integrate Expo 2026
Post-show numbers, end-user growth, education and the road to Connected Spaces – Integrate Event Director Soren Norgaard reflects on the 2026 edition.
20 October 2026
Interview:/ Christopher Holder
Integrate Expo remains the ANZ region’s premier commercial AV event. After the 2026 edition, Event Director Soren Norgaard sat down to unpack the results, the evolving visitor mix, the education programme, and what’s coming next.
AV.technology: How do you measure success for the show year on year?
Soren Norgaard: We measure visitor and exhibitor satisfaction using Net Promoter Score – NPS. From a visitor perspective we went from a score of 46 last year, which was already high, to 49 this year. Exhibitor NPS was stable at 50. To put that in context, the average for global B2B events is minus nine. So those are really solid results.
Net unique visitor attendance was 6146, up just over 13% year on year. When you include repeat visits and people who registered for the co-located security event and came across, overall attendance sat at almost 9000.
AV.technology: What’s the average dwell time?
Soren Norgaard: The average is about seven hours. That’s high. For a typical B2B event in Australia you’re looking at three or four hours. Events like ISE are different because you physically can’t see the whole show in one day, so people naturally spend multiple days. But for an Australian show, seven hours is significant.
AV.technology: Retention sits at around 40%. Does that seem low to you?
Soren Norgaard: Right, I questioned that number as well. There are a few factors at play. The core group – maybe 20-30% – come every year because they’re in senior positions or integral to the industry. Then there are people who attend every other year. If you overlap those figures it moves closer to 50-60%. Businesses still have to keep the doors open, so they’ll send different people in alternating years. There’s also natural churn in the industry. We measure on email addresses, so if someone changes jobs or the organisation changes, we don’t capture that continuity.
AV.technology: In practical terms, what drives high exhibitor satisfaction?
Soren Norgaard: Their main objective is having the right conversations and meeting the right type of attendee. Whether the goal is customer retention, new business or a combination, the testimonials talk about the diversity of the audience. They’re seeing consultants and integrators, of course, but also a growing number of end users.
We’ve been building that for several years. End users may not be signing the dotted line on the day, but they’re there to be inspired, to have the conversation and to look at solutions for their organisations. We’re seeing retailers coming in cohorts – half a dozen or a dozen people with different job titles: head of stores, head of security and so on. Facilities managers are looking at the building holistically: access control, reception counters, digital screens in the foyer. The co-located events help deliver that broader offering.
AV.technology: How are those end users finding the show?
Soren Norgaard: Some of it is word of mouth. The AV User Group was part of the show this year and their network spreads the message. People who came primarily for the security event discover Integrate and go back to their organisations saying, “You should see the technology they have over there.” It snowballs.
The Security co-locate is now in its fifth year and has broadened the appeal. Integrate has also become part of the annual calendar – people know it’s the end of August. On top of that we make a concerted marketing effort: identifying personas, AdWords, content that speaks to the offering. It’s grown organically and it’s an area we want to keep evolving.
AV.technology: That leads into next year’s Connected Spaces focus.
Soren Norgaard: Next year we’re introducing a Connected Spaces and Intelligent Buildings area on the floor plan, near the Tech Talks theatre. A lot of our existing exhibitors – Crestron, Cisco and many others – already play in that space. It’s a natural evolution of the convergence of AV, IT, IoT, cloud and AI. Buildings and venues are increasingly run as one system. Consultants scoping new jobs are talking about future-proofing, seamless user experiences, automation around room bookings, occupancy sensing, and camera tracking that actually supports meaningful conversation rather than a fixed camera at the end of the table. We’ll promote that area specifically to the people who need to see it.
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we want to be seen as the sounding board and thought-leadership platform for the industry
AV.technology: How’s the education program going and how do you see its role?
Soren Norgaard: It’s not a money spinner – it costs us money to put on. But we want to be seen as the sounding board and thought-leadership platform for the industry. It gives us the opportunity to promote speakers and for them to promote themselves through social channels, creating ambassadors in the lead-up to the event.
If you’re representing an industry you also have to represent innovation, challenges and knowledge sharing. This year we had the Tech Talks, the AETM K12 conference, and for the first time SMPTE involvement around broadcast technology. One of the biggest challenges for the industry is attracting new talent and creating awareness of AV as a career. There’s a real focus on workforce development, working with government, and getting proper, transferable certification recognised nationally and internationally. There are thousands of jobs that will be needed over the next five to ten years. Now is the time to get candidates into apprenticeships so the workforce can stabilise.
We ran a full session on workforce development that was well received – a full house in the Tech Talks Theatre. On the Friday morning we had the Tech Crew initiative with around 170 school kids coming in to learn about the different roles and career paths the industry offers. That’s a programme AVIXA and others have been working on for a long time, and the stakeholders are keen to keep evolving it. What better place for young people to see what the industry has to offer?
AV.technology: The AVIAs continue to sit at the heart of the show. I might be biased there!
Soren Norgaard: I agree. The awards are integral to the industry that there is recognition for outstanding projects. We love playing host to the AVIAs. It’s a big part of Integrate and it feels like it’s getting stronger every year. From my perspective it has its home here.
AV.technology: Looking at the overall footprint, how do you keep the balance?
Soren Norgaard: There’s always a temptation just to sign up LED companies for easy square metres and revenue. We temper that. It has to be the right showcase for the AV industry in ANZ – audio solutions, control systems, broadcast, the full picture. This year we were in about 2.8 halls downstairs. It’s not the biggest footprint we’ve ever had – that was 2018 when we had three halls upstairs and more players in the market – but it’s a balanced showcase and the satisfaction numbers reflect that.
Integrate Expo: integrate-expo.com
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