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Apparently it was Audio Innovate. But why? It didn't have the glitz and showbiz of Pioneer, or the amazing technological display of Stanton. But it did have DJs - lots of them all having a great time. And it's fair to say that I did have a small hand in it. Allow me to explain.

Chatting as I do with Elliot, owner of Audio Innovate, I suggested that to get some real exposure in the UK, he should take a stand at the BPM show. The problem was that he had nobody to actually man the thing, but I explained that I knew of some friends who could the job for him - the good people of Pedestrian. So the plan was hatched to hook AI and Pedestrian up with a view to pimping the Innofader and the all new AEM-100i to the UK masses.



Happy that I was able to hook up my long time friends with new kid on the block for some mutual promotion, I had one of those toilet epiphanies - sat pondering the complexities of life (well running a trade show stand) and it came to me - I could run a battle on the stand... thus the Pedestrian and skratchworx BPM battle was born.

Obviously, Pedestrian's primary concern was all about showing off the Innofader to the gathered BPM crowd, which was done in eloquent style. Well... 3 sets of decks and a handful of loud banners is rather more in your face than subtle but it worked big time. The stand was always full of DJs and potential AI and Pedestrian customers, and the small perma-crowd enjoyed the displays of regular power scratching.



Above all however, everyone loved the Innofader. It was slotted into 2 Vestax 05s and immediately loved by all who used it. Sapphires has just struck an exclusive deal with AI for a delivery of Innofaders, and I suspect that they'll be gone pretty quick. But what did surprise me the most was the reception to the AEM-100i. Battlers like things to be just right for them, but it's fair to say that a good number actually chose to use the AEM in preference to the other Vestax mixers. More on the battle in another story.



Summing up, the stand was a massive success. Always busy, pimping product and keeping the crowds and DJs happy. It was just so cool that 3 sets of decks were available to play with however they saw fit, rather than restricting access to just a select group of pass waving VIPs. People of all skill levels and styles jammed together and had a great time.



It was a huge amount of work to make everything happen, but I'm already thinking about how I can do something like it next year. Huge thanks to Elliot at AI and Lauren at Pedestrian for making it happen. Also massive thanks to the assorted Pedestrian volunteers as well as Rasteri, Wax On and the various BPM battlers for keeping the crowds happy. Big thanks to current DMC World Supremacy champ DJ Switch for spending excessive amounts of his own time jamming with DJs. And thanks to 2 x DMC UK champ Skully for stopping by.



Like I said earlier, I'm working on the battle story. But while you wait, check out the Audio Innovate stand gallery in my Flickr account. Random footage will appear as well.