AVIXA's Dubai Gambit: Trading Scale for Strategy with a New Event Model

DUBAI, UAE – August 27, 2026 – The Audiovisual and Integrated Experience Association (AVIXA) has announced a significant strategic pivot in its event portfolio, revealing plans for InfoComm EDGE Collective, an invitation-only executive forum to be held in Dubai this November. The move signals a deliberate shift away from the sprawling, product-focused trade show model toward a more intimate, solutions-oriented format designed for the highest echelons of leadership.

Taking place on November 3 at the Address Sky View, the forum will convene a curated group of senior-level end users, consultants, and technology integrators. This isn't just another conference; it's an operational innovation in how an industry association engages its market. By focusing on co-creation with the very leaders who commission and deploy large-scale projects, AVIXA is betting that the future lies not in showcasing individual products, but in collaboratively solving complex business challenges.

A Strategic Pivot from Trade Show to Executive Forum

For decades, the trade show has been the undisputed engine of B2B industries, a physical marketplace of ideas and commerce. But AVIXA is reading the tea leaves. The InfoComm EDGE Collective represents a calculated departure from this tradition. The core innovation lies in its co-created format, a concept that fundamentally alters the dynamic between organizer, exhibitor, and attendee.

"True to the spirit of the InfoComm EDGE event we announced earlier this year, InfoComm EDGE Collective will be the first event in AVIXA's long history to have been co-created with the end-user and decision-maker community," stated David Labuskes, CEO of AVIXA. This is more than a marketing slogan; it's a change in operating philosophy. The association has established an in-region End User Council tasked with vetting and shaping the event's content. This council assesses activation submissions from AVIXA's member companies, ensuring that what attendees experience is not a sales pitch, but a direct answer to pre-identified market needs.

The result, as Labuskes explained, is an environment where attendees can "interact with complete solutions across a range of connected environments – not just test individual product performance." This shift addresses a growing fatigue among senior executives who have little time for wandering exhibition halls. They demand actionable intelligence and peer-to-peer dialogue. By making the event invitation-only and structuring discussions under Chatham House Rules, AVIXA is creating a trusted space for frank conversation about the strategic deployment of technology.

Dubai as the Proving Ground for a Connected Future

The choice of Dubai as the venue is no coincidence. The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) region is a hotbed of technological adoption and infrastructure investment, making it the ideal laboratory for this new event model. The Middle East's pro AV market is on a steep growth trajectory, with projections estimating it will reach nearly $23 billion by 2030, expanding at a brisk CAGR of 6.9%. The UAE, in particular, is expected to register the highest growth rate in the region.

This boom is fueled by ambitious government-led economic diversification programs, most notably Saudi Arabia's Vision 2030 and the UAE's own national strategies to become a global hub for AI and technology. These initiatives are pouring billions into smart cities, luxury tourism, advanced educational facilities, and state-of-the-art corporate headquarters—all of which rely heavily on sophisticated, integrated AV solutions. It's a market that is less interested in buying components and more interested in procuring outcomes.

AVIXA's event aims to tap directly into this demand. "By fostering collaboration and the exchange of ideas, the event will explore how pro AV can drive productivity, engagement, and regional growth," Labuskes noted. The forum is positioned to become a key nexus where regional development goals meet technological capability, defining the role of integrated AV as a strategic asset for achieving long-term value creation.

From Products to Performance: The Focus on Integrated Solutions

At the heart of the InfoComm EDGE Collective are three experiential 'connected environments' designed to demonstrate how pro AV enables organizations to perform when it matters most. This focus on integrated, real-world applications is a direct response to the end-user's ultimate question: "How will this help my organization succeed?"

The three environments are:

1. Command and Control: This addresses the nerve centers of modern operations—from smart city management and public safety to corporate security and logistics. In a region investing heavily in critical infrastructure, the ability to improve situational awareness, accelerate decision-making, and ensure operational continuity is paramount. The Collective will showcase how integrated video walls, secure data visualization, and seamless KVM over IP come together to create resilient, intelligent command centers.

2. Operational Collaboration: Reflecting the global shift to hybrid work, this environment focuses on enabling seamless communication across distributed organizations. With an emphasis on unified communications, intelligent audio, and high-quality video conferencing, the goal is to demonstrate how technology can foster confident decision-making and maintain team cohesion, whether participants are in the boardroom or on the other side of the world.

3. Engagement and Learning: This environment explores how pro AV is transforming communication in educational, corporate, and public-facing venues. From immersive learning platforms in universities to captivating experiential marketing in retail and museums, the focus is on how technology can deepen content interaction and participation. For the GCC's booming tourism and education sectors, these solutions are critical for creating world-class experiences.

By framing the technology within these outcome-oriented contexts, AVIXA is elevating the conversation from technical specifications to strategic business impact.

Building a Bridge to 2027 and Beyond

While the InfoComm EDGE Collective is a significant event in its own right, it is also a strategic building block in AVIXA's long-term regional plan. The insights and relationships forged at this exclusive gathering will directly inform the agenda for the larger InfoComm EDGE 2027, a two-day experiential event scheduled for the following year in Dubai.

This iterative approach allows the association to build momentum and ensure its larger-scale event is precisely calibrated to the market's most pressing needs. Furthermore, the decision to co-locate the Collective with Pro AVL Connect, an established regional networking event, is a shrewd tactical move. It creates a bridge between the high-level strategic discussions of the executive forum and the wider AV channel community, ensuring that insights from the boardroom can be translated into action on the ground. This multi-layered strategy demonstrates a deep understanding of the ecosystem, aiming to nurture the market from the top down and the bottom up.