ISE 2026 Sessions
On February 6th, find frame:work presenters in Hall 3 at the AVIXA Xchange Live stage
About frame:work
10:20 – 10:30
Hall 3 – 3Q150
Join Laura for a kickoff of the frame:work takeover of AVIXAs stage for a day of community discussion of the how’s and why’s of creative video production.
Laura Frank spent her early career establishing herself as a top lighting programmer with projects spanning rock tours with David Bowie and Madonna, to Broadway shows like Spamalot and television events like the Concert for NY. As the media server market started to evolve, Laura made the shift to screen content and control.
After a decade of refining a media delivery workflow, she established herself as a Screens Producer leading a highly regarded Media Operations team for prominent events around the world. Her shows included the MTV Video Music Awards, The Game Awards, the Turner Upfront and the CMA Music Awards.
Laura is the author of two textbooks and serves as Creator Advocate at Megapixel.
Laura Frank
Executive Director
frame:work
Real-Time Interaction: Because Waiting is Boring
Stop watching progress bars. Come create in real time with Notch.
Want to build visuals that respond to touch, data, and live audiences in real time? Artist and technologist Armin Werx shows you how in this hands-on Notch session. Learn to create interactive, generative scenes that react, adapt, and captivate. Follow along live and walk away knowing how to turn your ideas into stunning visual spectacles.
10:30 – 11:20
Hall 3 – 3Q150
Armin is a seasoned VJ and live visuals artist, working across live music TV and concert tours. Over the years, he’s collaborated with some pretty iconic artists and brands — including Metallica, Billie Eilish, Ed Sheeran, Muse, Sting, Röyksopp, A-ha, Alan Walker, Kygo, Netflix, and Warner Bros., to name a few.
When he’s not on the road, Armin gets to do what he loves every day as a product evangelist and lead trainer at Notch — turning his passion for real-time visuals into a full-time gig.
Ever since discovering Notch and the magic of real-time workflows, he’s been completely hooked. That’s why he shares most of his experiments freely on YouTube and other platforms, so anyone can learn, remix, and build their own visuals from them.
Armin Werx
Product Evangelist, Lead Trainer
NOTCH
AI Storyboarding Lab
11:30 – 12:20
Hall 3 – 3Q150
This hands-on session brings the audience into the creative loop. Together, we’ll walk through the process of transforming a raw concept into a visual storyboard using AI-assisted tools. Attendees will work step-by-step through ideation, visual references, and early look-development workflows, mirroring the way many pitch decks and design packages are rapidly evolving.
Participants will see how different prompts and creative decisions shape the results, where human intuition still drives the process, and how these techniques can support, not replace, our established craft. You’ll leave with a template for integrating AI into your own pitch development and a clearer sense of how to adapt these tools inside real production timelines.
Michael Al-Far is a creative centipede and a Belgium/British designer.
Michael has extensive experience with Live Shows, Musicals, Performance Art, Music Festivals and Film & TV. He is passionate about design and the creative process of translating a client’s dream into reality, using contemporary techniques, materials, and technology.
Innovation and leading-edge technology are the main drivers for Michael’s designs and concepts. He believes we need to look forward on our way to explore new ways of design and entertainment.
Michael is involved in Film, Broadcast and Live Entertainment all around the world. He started in the movie industry as an electrician and made it through the ranks to Director of Photography for Film & TV. With the introduction of 3D design programs, a natural migration followed into 3D design for concepts, lighting, and visual content.
He is a pioneer in media server AR/XR technology and Virtual Production for film and broadcast and is co-founder of Virtual Innovation Partners in Belgium running the Benelux’ largest Virtual Production Studio.
Michael Al-Far
Creative Director
Malfmedia
Maarten Francq trained as an industrial designer, but through a ManaMA in Multimedia and Vitrual Reality he quickly made the leap to designing and controlling complex video systems for festivals and large events.
As a VJ and video artist, balancing on the edge between art and technology, he has worked worldwide on projects such as Tomorrowland Atlanta (US), the Sjarjah Light Festival (UAE) and the Ghent Light Festival (BE). In the music industry, he has worked on stage show concepts for Marco Borsato (NL), Robbie Williams (UK) and Titziano Ferro (IT), among others.
Since the technology developed within the live entertainment industry has also entered the broadcast world, he has been very actively involved in the development of extended reality applications, proof-of-concepts and world’s firsts in the virtual production area. With Disguise, Notch, Resolume and Touchdesigner as his main tools.
Driven by a desire to spread knowledge, Maarten Francq became head of program at the Royal Institute for Theatre, Cinema and Sound in Brussels for the Professional Bachelor of Audiovisual Techniques and in that capacity, together with the entire team, rewrote the entire curriculum in order to incorporate this technology shift in the programme.
Later on, while still working in the industry, he became a researcher plugging audiovisual proof-of-concepts in the market, mostly focusing on data, protocols and inter-disciplinary showcontrol. This research led to starting a PhD in ‘AI in Live Entertainment’ latest October and the release of two fully AI generated videoclips for Belgian’s famous artist DAAN.
Driven by a passion for the audiovisual arts and technology used to drive experiences, Maarten had been involved in numerous mentorship projects, launching and supporting young talent in the industry and is currently starting up the educational wing of Lab of Tomorrow, the entertainment tech innovation hub of Belgian’s largest festival Tomorrowland.
Maarten Francq
Founder
Lowstreetmedia
Technical Challenges in Immersive Storytelling
Immersive and interactive digital venues are rapidly expanding and reshaping the ProAV landscape. These experiences now compete with cinemas, concerts, gaming, and live sports. Audiences demand narrative impact, emotional resonance, and personal engagement on massive pixel canvases driven by real-time engines, spatial audio, and sensor-based interactivity.
In this session, a cross-disciplinary panel will break down the technical challenges behind these environments. We’ll discuss performance constraints, system reliability, content pipelines, audience behavior, and the realities of reactive storytelling.
This is an interactive discussion. Attendees are encouraged to bring their questions, concerns, and project experiences to explore where immersive storytelling succeeds, where it breaks, and what tools and workflows must evolve to support next-generation venues.
12:30 – 13:20
Hall 3 – 3Q150
Conor McGill is a leader in the digital multimedia entertainment industry, with extensive experience spanning consumer electronics, film and television production, concert touring, corporate events, immersive entertainment venues, and media architecture. He is passionate about helping people better understand, experience, and utilize technology to enrich their personal and professional lives.
As the Director of PIXERA USA, Conor oversees the growth of the PIXERA team and the product’s adoption in the U.S. market. He also serves as a global product and business advisor for AV Stumpfl, PIXERA’s parent company.
Conor McGill
Director
PIXERA
Shelly Sabel is a NYC-based designer and creative director, who recently joined the team at Fuse. Her 25-year design career spans art, fashion, theater, dance, live events, immersive experiences, and virtual production.
Favorite projects involve storytelling through content and experiences that showcase emergent technologies as well as then getting those technologies into the hands of a broader spectrum of artists. As a creative producer, she communicates clients’ visions with technology teams to create strong communities and push the boundaries of what can be accomplished.
Shelly holds an MFA from NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts, where she is an adjunct faculty member.
Shelly Sabel
Creative Director
FUSE Technical Group
Paul McConnell is a Founding Partner and Strategy Lead at Noble, a New York City based digital innovation consultancy focused on digital buildings, placemaking, and connected public environments.
Paul has led digital product, experience strategy, and design operations efforts across North America, Europe, and Asia for organizations including Intersection, LinkNYC, Sidewalk Labs, Alphabet, Arup, Samsung, Brookfield, Keppel, Walmart, Transport for London, MTA New York City Transit, Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office, and Museum of Modern Art.
The way people experience places, technology, and services has changed, yet the built environment often struggles to keep pace. Paul’s work focuses on closing this gap by translating emerging technologies into practical digital systems that improve experience, unlock new revenue streams, and scale across complex physical environments.
His work spans large scale digital transformation programs, new digital product launches, digital building system design, and the integration of data, screens, and software into live environments. Alongside his team, Paul leverages AI for strategy, research, and rapid insight generation, as well as for creative storytelling and visualization that help teams align, make decisions, and communicate complex systems clearly. This includes digital wayfinding, large format display networks, CMS and content operations, and data driven placemaking across sports and entertainment venues, transportation networks, cultural institutions, and mixed use campuses.
Paul’s work has been recognized by Communication Arts, IxDA, Cannes Lions, and Core77. He teaches graduate design and strategy at Pratt Institute and School of Visual Arts and serves on multiple design advisory boards.
Paul McConnell
Founding Partner
Noble
As Founder of Neutral Human and CCO at Stage Precision, Sarah Cox is a key figure in the evolving Media and Entertainment industry. She has a two-decade career at the cutting edge of entertainment technology, starting in venues like The Comedy Store & London’s Wembley Stadium.
Sarah’s expertise grew along with the technology advancements of real-time media servers and graphics engines, leading her to head international sales divisions at industry giants like disguise, Notch and now Stage Precision. Her deep understanding of entertainment technology and emergent trends of the experience economy has made her a recognised voice in her field.
Sarah Cox
CCO
Stage Precision