The business to business expo which took place from 20 to 22 July at the Coca-Cola Dome in Johannesburg is the largest and most diverse of its kind on the African continent and attracts exhibitors from across the world as well as local manufacturers and suppliers with visitor demographics encompassing a broad cross section of the industry.

This year saw that 46% of visitors were new to the exhibition, with the remaining 54% having attended this biennial expo previously. Statistics show that over 50% of these visitors have authority to purchase, and that 13 % of these visitors have an annual spend of between R500 000 and R1-million. Exhibition director, Simon Robinson, points out that 1.8%, translating to 115 visitors, were in fact authorised to spend over R50-million on equipment and solution per year.

Of the 6 400 visitors, 45% were either managing directors; CEOs, company directors, owners or partners and 35% of the visitors were engineers and technicians. The largest area of interest was in the Broadcast sector at 50%, followed closely by the Pro Audio sector, Lighting, Post Production and Film sectors.

An impressive number of brands were displayed with over 800 individual brands showcased with a significant increase in the number of international representatives. Robinson enthused: “I am very positive and delighted with the number of visitors, particularly those from overseas, and also the quality of the exhibits. The standard of this year’s expo was exceptional and I truly believe is comparable to the international standards set by other overseas industry related events such as IBC and PLASA.”

Screen Africa Technology and Production Conference was hosted at Mediatech Africa, focusing on innovative and interactive topics related to the industry with topics including Media Asset Management, 3D production, 3D post, DTT (Digital Terrestrial Migration) and DVB-T2 technologies for South Africa.

In addition to the conference, a series of presentation areas within the main expo provided informative and fascinating information regarding new products and technology on a continual basis throughout the entire expo programme.

With over 15 industry sectors on display, Mediatech Africa certainly lived up to its promise of being the meeting place for the industry and the ideal venue to view, experience and even purchase product, bringing buyers and sellers together under one roof.

What exhibitors had to say:

Spescom Systems (Pty) Limited t/a Jasco ICT – Broadcast Solutions:
We believe that the show was a huge success for several reasons. The foot-count through the door far exceeded our expectations and, having sponsored the registration area as well as having had a large stand at the entrance, I believe we received good branding value. We used the show as a platform to launch our new brand, Jasco which resulted from the recent Jasco/Spescom merger. We felt it opportune to be able to present our new face to the market place in this manner. From a business perspective, we gathered many leads, particularly in the Avid, Viewcast, ClearCom, and Sony spaces. Again, it was opportune to have the show when one of our major competitors in the video editing domain, Final Cut Pro (FCP), launched their new version which received mixed reviews.

Touchvision Digital Media Solutions:
Mediatech Africa 2011 was the best year for us. In the past as a previous exhibitor, we generally promoted software and found that we were not seeing much return on Investment. This year we promoted the Various Solutions from AJA . The interest was immediately evident. There was a product on our stand for every customer’s requirements. AJA Video is a leading manufacturer of high-quality and cost-effective digital video interface, conversion, acquisition and desktop solutions supporting the professional broadcast and post-production markets. Touchvision exhibited AJA in their edit category by bundling with Apple's FCP, AVID’s Media Composer as well as Adobe Production bundle’s stereographic workflow. The quality of visitor at this year’s show was high standard and we were able to gather many new leads.

Broadcast and Installation Engineering:
We found a slight decrease in numbers of exhibitors and although we had fewer enquiries than previous shows, the quality of visitors interested in doing business was far better. We deal with most African countries and the most interest came from this sector.

Gearhouse SA (Pty) Ltd:
Gearhouse SA, LEDVision and Gearhouse Splitbeam were the technical sponsors for Mediatech Africa 2011 and we achieved great brand exposure through our association with this high-profile event. There were great networking opportunities with industry players and we brought many of our clients to have a look at the new technologies on offer. Mediatech Africa is growing in leaps and bounds as a business platform for our industry,

Concilium Technologies:
We found the Mediatech Africa 2011 show to be one of the best yet, and we were able to engage productively with all of the broadcasters and production facilities during the three days of the show, while cementing new relationships as well. The resources committed by our overseas partners were testament to the fact that they view Mediatech Africa as a significant event on their calendars, and this was evidenced in the large contingent of overseas experts who assisted with demonstration of the award winning products from Harris, Ross, Hightech and DK technologies, amongst many others. Mediatech also offers an opportunity to the younger generation to be inspired by the technologies they would otherwise be unable to experience.

Tradelius Music Group:
The show was definitely a success for us. There was a lot of buzz around practically all our products displayed. People were especially interested in our Kurzweil, Hammond, Nord Keyboards, Ultrasone Headphones, Pearl Drums, Washburn Guitars, KXaudio Speakers and the Phonic and Reloop DJ products. It was a great opportunity for the public to get first hand impressions of these products such as the Ultrasone Headphones which have a great benefits in terms of protecting hearing and reducing listening fatigue. With the increased use of headphones this is now a hot topic. We had visits and live performances by highly respected and popular SA musicians such as Dr Victor and others. We generated a lot of sales leads and overall we were impressed with the event. Visitors were extremely excited about the new products on show.

Inala Broadcast:
Since the inception of Media Technology Africa Inala Broadcast has participated at all of the exhibitions. The attraction of customers to Mediatech Africa is largely dependent on South African customers, and this is the market we address, which nis essentially the three main broadcasters, South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) / M-Net and e.tv. Inala Broadcast’s participation is therefore based on presence and networking. We also use Mediatech Africa to showcase the professional broadcast range of products manufactured by companies i.e. JVC Professional. This year we had a new company Aviwest on our stand demonstrating Digital Mobile News Gathering (DMNG) technology which is able to stream H.264 video.

Wild and Marr:
Mediatech Africa 2011 marked a significant achievement for Wild and Marr and we were able to further re-establish our foothold as a leader in the pro audio industry.

Matrix Corporate & Theatre Sound cc:
Mediatech Africa 2011 was a coming of age event for expo’s in South Africa. From the exhibitor registration process to the collection of access cards, the entire process was slick, painless and professional. The show itself had a very ‘international’ feel about it, totally unrelated to it's size but more to do with the layout of the floor space and to a large degree the calibre of the stands erected this year by exhibitors. For us as the opportunity to demonstrate the features of our product in the outdoor area was by far the most beneficial part of the entire event. It once again provided us with a opportunity to expose a brilliant but relatively unknown product, Alcons Audio, to a wide cross section of the local market, ranging from consultants to venue owners and PA companies to DJ's. This has generated a huge amount of interest and sales enquiries. Our participation at Mediatech Africa was most worthwhile.