What a start to ISE 2026. After recounting our rAVe travel chaos to anyone who would listen, we finally made it to Barcelona — and immediately jumped in.

We landed Monday, tested rAVe [TV] tech during setup and then I sprinted straight into events. It would’ve been four, but I accidentally got stuck at Spotify Camp Nou a little longer than planned. Tragic, I know.

Here’s the highlight reel:

Shure, Crestron and a Night of Useful Intel

Shure press event:
I got hands-on with the Shure IntelliMix Bar Pro. Yes, it’s another video bar — but it’s a Shure video bar, and that matters. It slots cleanly into their ecosystem and actually makes sense for customers already living in Shure land. Smart move. If you’re in the market, go demo it.

Crestron at Camp Nou:
Seeing how much Crestron tech lives inside this facility was genuinely impressive. My Cresty Bestie, Brad Hintze, led a great keynote conversation about the partnership and what it really takes to outfit a venue at this scale. Then I toured the museum and remembered why “AV in real spaces” is always cooler than it looks on spec sheets.

Visionary dinner:
A night of new friends, good food and learning far too much about what Gary Kayye was like back in the day. This information will absolutely be used later. Fair warning.

Day One on the Show Floor

Once the show officially started, it was full-speed: interviews, rAVe [TV] shoots and as much networking as humanly possible.

Two booths immediately stood out:

• Logitech — Packed. Constant traffic. If booth density were a KPI, Logitech would be winning.
• Epson — Their “Infinity” installation was a real visual moment. Developed by creative director Luca Rapis of One Thousand, with visuals by Damonxart, it’s the kind of experiential design that actually stops people mid-walk.

Most of my day was sponsor interviews, so I didn’t get to wander as freely as I wanted. Friday is my “explore everything” day — so if there’s something I should absolutely check out, send it my way.

The Big Pattern I’m Seeing So Far

Here’s the honest take: I’m not seeing anything wildly revolutionary yet. It’s much more about evolution than moonshots — refining workflows, tightening integrations and improving what already exists.

What is popping up everywhere? As-a-Service.

We saw early versions of this trend years ago, then it kind of stalled. Now it’s clearly back. Gary’s take is that rising capital expenditure (CapEx) is pushing buyers toward managed services models instead of big upfront purchases — and I think he’s right. It also aligns with what integrators are being asked for more and more: ongoing support, monitoring and lifecycle management, not just installs.

If this keeps trending the way it looks on Day One, it’s going to be a big storyline of ISE 2026.

That’s enough Steph Thoughts™ for now. Back to the show floor.

Here’s rAVe [TV] from today if you even care: