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Big shifts rarely happen by accident; they come from bold bets that connect the dots others ignore. We sit down with All Things Media CEO David Kitchener to unpack a strategy designed to grow the smart home market by bringing two adjacent worlds under one roof at the NEC Birmingham: EI Live and the new ECN Live. Instead of chasing the same attendees every year, co-location invites integrators, distributors, and manufacturers to meet a larger, highly relevant audience of electricians and electrical contractors who are already on-site and ready to expand into smart home work.
David takes us behind the scenes of Essential Install’s editorial principles—tight audience targeting, strong design, and trade-first reporting—and explains why print still excels in specialist sectors. We also explore Intelligent Homes, the quarterly consumer magazine mailed to 25,000 targeted households per issue. With case studies, lighting features, and home cinema explainers written in clear, benefit-led language, it turns curiosity into demand and gives integrators a powerful awareness channel outside the echo chamber.
We dig into the practical upside of the NEC move: central access, abundant hotels, and space to scale. Exhibitors gain a bigger pool of qualified prospects; visitors can plan two focused days—one on the “blue” smart home side, one on the “red” contracting side—and leave with new suppliers, new categories, and new accounts. Along the way, we touch on the role of video, from factory tours at Niko and Barco to storytelling that shows how products are tested, built, and proven before they reach a rack or ceiling.
If you care about where the smart home industry is heading—and how to find growth beyond your usual circle—this conversation maps the terrain and the playbook. Subscribe for more deep dives, share this with a teammate who needs to hear it, and tell us: which side will you start with at the NEC—blue or red?

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