My 2 Cents

Speaking of NATPE, why is it that out of 65 total seminars at the most recent event in Las Vegas, I could only find three that were somewhat interesting?  It’s not like I have lots of time to devote to this particular aspect of the market (busy as we are with the Daily publication), but surely a few minutes could have been found if warranted. This state of affairs is not just limited to NATPE, mind you, but to virtually all events in which VideoAge participates or considers attending.

We’ve now reached a point –– when event organizers tout their sessions as the best ever –– where we simply ask them to send us a copy of the conference on CD or DVD, since we cannot afford to attend them, in terms of interest, time and money.

Recently, we at VideoAge quizzed studio executives to find out whether market and seminar organizers have visited their offices to inquire about topics and issues of interest to them. The answer, sadly, was “no.”

In other words, event organizers don’t even bother to talk to those in the know, who “consume” valuable information most. Yes, they “survey” their audiences (as the organizers like to say), but I’m not surprised when conference organizers complain that no one bothers to answer. This kind of information needs to be gathered on a one-to-one basis, not via snail mail or e-mail.

I, too, was never asked by event organizers to come up with suggestions. And I’m certainly not the type to volunteer this kind of information, preferring instead to reserve my rantings for these “2¢.”

But VideoAge did more. During NATPE we sent our floor reporters to investigate whether or not in our business, at least, seminars are becoming useless (see Page 18 for a full story). The result of this limited but indicative survey was that most respondents said that organizations such as NATPE are often missing the target when it comes to the selection of conference topics.

Seminar topics are often suggested or proposed by publishers in order to promote their publications, by journalists who need visibility, by executives who want a trampoline to tout their companies (resulting basically in infomercials) and by favorites of market/seminar organizers.

At times, a big name is sufficient to get some attention, but, in this case, the attraction is the name, not the conference’s topic itself.

Since this is a “2¢” feature, some free advice can be dispensed to those who want to take advantage of it.

First of all, take a meeting with studio executives. Better yet, run to meet with studio executives. These are the people who spend lots of money trying to stay ahead of the curve. Even though they cannot share or divulge their intelligence, surely they can steer conference organizers in the right direction.

Second, avoid at all costs inviting panelists who use the conference as a promotional spot.

Third, journalists are good at asking questions in print — not answering them at a podium. Journalists should be like children: seen but not heard! Plus, we journalists don’t know anything, simply because we never worked in any of the fields being explored (how many journalists have run a TV company?).

Fourth, select topics that are really relevant to the present, pertinent to our future or utterly outrageous (inviting futurists, scam artists, corporate raiders and the like).

Now, since I’m on a roll, here are some additional suggestions:

It is sufficient to look outside our current TV windows and to realize that new TV models will soon emerge. One of these will certainly be a “pull” system, which could easily replace the current “push” TV model.
A conference reviewing the business model(s) of a “pull-TV” system is more urgent than ever.

The ubiquity of broadband (via wireless, cable or Telco) will soon help launch a new TV platform that, theoretically, could replace satellite, today, and, later, cable TV: IPTV.

Just realizing the impact of IPTV could trigger a series of conferences with multiple implications: programming, copyrights, distribution rights, regulations, geofiltering and technology.

Let’s hope seminar organizers get out of their cocoons.

Dom Serafini