Solid Technical Program Brought to You by the Industry for the Industry … a Winning Combination [Message from the Executive Director

Abstract

In the last issue, I reported the successful results of the IBC. In a year when many shows are down in total attendance, IBC achieved growth. This is good for IBC—and as a partner/part owner of the show, it is certainly good for SMPTE. You may also appreciate how excited and pleased I am to now report that SMPTE 2008: Annual Tech Conference & Expo also grew this year—to the tune of more than 50%. One reason for this growth can be attributed to the top notch program we developed on a noncommercial platform. As an industry nonprofit, we must compete with many commercial entities in the conference calendar. This is often a huge challenge for us due to limited resources compared to commercial conference organizers. The bottom line difference is that our revenues go to further development of industry standards and technical resources for members…by the industry for the industry. So, as spending tightens with a fragile economy, I hope our individual members and corporate sponsors will continue to support the work and efforts of SMPTE—including its conferences because we were here in 1916 to help develop the business—and we pledge to continue to be here to further the work that needs to be done to continue to develop and grow the business. Some of the industry's best and brightest graced our stages for very in-depth technical and business-related operations discussions—and many of the leading business decision makers graced our show floor, so I thank you all for your support of SMPTE.