Creative Technology and the CONNECTME26 Success Story

Live Events, Systems Integration

8 September, 2026

Creative Technology and NEP Group opened their doors to the future of live events, broadcast and systems integration with three days of technology, collaboration and industry connection.

DUBAI, UAE, September 2026— Creative Technology has successfully concluded CONNECTME26, its largest and most ambitious showcase to date, bringing together clients, partners, freelancers, manufacturers and industry professionals for three days of innovation, collaboration, and connection.

Building on the success of the inaugural CONNECTME event in 2024, CONNECTME26 more than doubled in scale and scope, transforming the Dubai facility into a fully integrated live technology environment showcasing the latest developments in audio, video, lighting, broadcast, and systems integration.

At its core, CONNECTME26 was created to offer a more meaningful alternative to traditional trade show engagement. ‘CONNECTME26 began with a simple vision: to create an environment where customers, partners, and creatives could spend meaningful time together, experience technology in a real-world setting, and have conversations that simply aren’t possible within the constraints of a traditional exhibition,” said Andy Reardon, President of Creative Technology Middle East. ‘It’s always been about more than technology. It’s about people, relationships, and creating opportunities for collaboration across our industry.’

The inaugural CONNECTME24 attracted more than 350 attendees over three days and established a new platform for engagement across the region’s production, events, and broadcast sectors. In 2026, CTME expanded the concept further with the introduction of reCONNECTME26, a dedicated day focused on the freelance community that supports productions throughout the GCC.

‘Over the past six months, the industry has faced a number of challenges, with projects slowing and market uncertainty affecting many businesses across the region,’ Reardon continued. It felt more important than ever to create a space where the industry could reconnect, share ideas, and look forward together. Our freelance community plays a critical role in the success of our sector, and reCONNECTME26 provided an opportunity to recognize that contribution while creating new opportunities for collaboration.’

Technology Showcase Becomes the Demonstration

Unlike traditional technology exhibitions, CONNECTME26 itself became the demonstration. Visitors experienced a fully integrated technology ecosystem featuring regional-first solutions from partners including Barco, ROE Visual, Panasonic, Epson, and many others. Immersive projection environments, a Future Tech Zone, live audio and lighting demonstrations, real-time previsualization workflows, and integrated systems showcased how modern production technologies operate together.

At the heart of the event was a state-of-the-art Main Control Room (MCR), connecting displays, media servers, cameras, lighting fixtures, audio systems, and control surfaces through an SMPTE ST 2110 IP infrastructure.

‘The MCR demonstrated how increasingly complex productions can be designed and operated through shared infrastructure rather than isolated technical systems,’ said Tom Stocks, Head of Technical at Creative Technology Middle East.

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‘The objective wasn’t simply connectivity. It was about creating visibility, control, and operational efficiency across the entire production environment. The important part for us isn’t simply having backup equipment. It’s having the monitoring and visibility to understand the health of the overall system and respond quickly if something changes,’ Stocks continued.

The scale of the deployment reflected the ambition of the event. The CONNECTME26 infrastructure incorporated:

12 high-performance media servers
32 LED displays
14 projection systems
70 digital signage displays
24 cameras
Approximately 160 million managed pixels
More than 900 lighting fixtures
80 loudspeakers
SMPTE ST 2110-based video and audio transport
Panasonic KAIROS centralized management and switching

The integrated architecture gave engineering teams real-time visibility into network performance, media transport, system health, power distribution, and operational data, demonstrating the practical advantages of connected production workflows.

Contemporary productions are not collections of individual products. They are systems.

‘What makes CONNECTME 2026 truly unique is that the event itself has become the showcase. Rather than simply talking about integrated technology, we’re demonstrating it live in a real-world environment,’ elaborated Reardon.

Showcasing the Future of Production Technology

Across CONNECTME26, each CTME department highlighted emerging technologies and evolving industry trends.

The Audio team introduced the new d&b U-Series, making CTME the first rental provider in the region to carry the system. Visitors also experienced hands-on demonstrations of immersive audio workflows through both L-Acoustics L-ISA and d&b Soundscape platforms.

The Lighting and Power division demonstrated advancements in real-time visualization, automated performer tracking, and remote follow-spot operation, including Follow-Me tracking systems, GLP’s latest DigiFX functionality, and live Depence² visualization environments. New fixtures from Robe, Cameo, Martin Professional, and Look Solutions were also presented as part of the department’s ongoing investment evaluation program.

Meanwhile, the video department showcased the latest developments in LED display technology, projection systems, media servers, and IP-based production workflows. Highlights included transparent and audio-transparent LED solutions, next-generation RGB laser projection, advanced camera systems, and AI-enhanced production tools. A key focus throughout the showcase was demonstrating how these technologies operate within one unified ecosystem rather than as standalone solutions. While the systems integration activation, which demoed generative AI content, was run on LightAct servers.

An Eight-Week Inter-Departmental Effort

Behind the scenes, CONNECTME26 was a significant undertaking. Developed over approximately eight weeks alongside CTME’s day-to-day client operations, the project brought together around 80 team members spanning technical departments and business operations.

‘As with anything Andy Reardon does, the ambition is always to go bigger and better than what came before, and CONNECTME26 was no exception,’ said Dom Greatrex, Project Manager at Creative Technology Middle East. ‘Our challenge was not only to bring the vision to life but also to keep developing and improving it along the way. Andy is probably our most demanding client. He is incredibly farsighted, has an exceptional eye for detail, and brings a relentless pursuit of excellence. That set the benchmark for the entire project. I think everyone involved had an amazing experience turning that vision into reality, even if, on occasion, the dreams were a little bigger than what we could deliver.’

Delivering that ambition required close coordination across the business, from the initial brief through technical development and ultimately on-site execution.

‘CONNECTME26 was an enormous team effort. Every department worked towards a shared goal: to build something that went beyond what we achieved in 2024. The success of the event reflects the expertise, dedication, and collaboration of the entire team,’ Greatrex continued.

CONNECTME26 also represented an important evolution in demonstrating the relationship between CTME and the wider NEP Group

For the first time within the CONNECTME concept, the event brought capabilities from across both organizations who coexist together under one roof, expanding the scope of the showcase and creating new opportunities for collaboration with clients and partners. In 2026, we incorporated NEP into the showcase, which gave CONNECTME26 a completely new dimension and enabled greater collaboration across some of our key clients. As an industry leader, it was important for us to showcase not only the advances and investments we have made, but also the direction Creative Technology and NEP are heading together.

While CONNECTME26 provided a platform to showcase the innovations shaping the future of live events, broadcast, and systems integration, CTME emphasized that its success would ultimately be measured not by the technology on display, but by the connections and ideas it inspired.

‘If our clients, partners, and industry colleagues leave with stronger relationships, new ideas, and a greater understanding of what’s possible when technology and creativity come together, then we’ve achieved exactly what we set out to do,’ said Reardon.

That impact was already evident before the event had come to a close.

‘Visitors were asking when the next CONNECTME would take place before this one had even finished, and there may be no better measure of success,’ said Condesa Valentina Sioufi, Marketing Manager at Creative Technology Middle East. ‘From a marketing perspective, we wanted to create something that would spark conversations and connections that continued beyond the event itself. CONNECTME26 has given the region’s production community considerably more to talk about than technology alone.’

For Reardon, that success reinforced the broader purpose behind CONNECTME and its role in bringing the industry together.

‘CONNECTME26 has reinforced its position as one of the region’s most distinctive industry engagement events—built around technology, but ultimately driven by the people, ideas, and partnerships shaping what comes next,’ he concluded.

Connected. Empowering. Positive.

More than a theme for CONNECTME26, those principles reflect the philosophy behind the event and continue to shape CTME’s approach to technology, collaboration, and the future of production across the Middle East.

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Creative Technology and the CONNECTME26 Success Story

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