IBC Through the Eyes of a First-Timer and a Veteran
Well, put another notch on the IBC bed...er, that is to say, that's a wrap for another IBC. What a great show, too. I always like this one more than NAB, personally. Maybe it's the relaxed, beautiful city of Amsterdam; maybe it's that the show is so long [6 days] with really long hours, or maybe both. But everyone seems to have time for more meetings, more demos, and to enjoy the company of their industry colleagues, who work so hard all year.
After coming to to IBC for so many years, you really get a handle on the way the city works and of course, you tend to make some places your own and visit them every year. This year I had the pleasure of being introduced to a couple new ones in addition to my circuit—a great little hole in the wall place called the Pancake Bakery (Tim Siglin went back the next night and they'd run out of batter by 9 p.m.!), and a great place called the Whiskey Cafe L&B on Korte Leidsedwarsstraat.
This year's IBC was attended by 48,521, a 8.7% rise over last year, making it the second-biggest IBC in history. There were plenty of familiar faces, and a ton of new ones too. A lot of people may say that 3D ruled IBC this year, but I don't really agree with that. Then again, I look at it only from the perspective of the online video industry, so "sexy" doesn't really impress me. Nothing 3D online related really was making waves, at least, that I saw. Then again, I wasn't really looking for it.
What I was looking for was who is making plans to conquer the world over the next 12 months. I found them. While I'm under NDA for pretty much all of them, I did spot a couple of things that caught my attention. The miniCASTER looks promising - an H.264 encoder that can fit in your pocket. Also, Tim Harader's new company hypershow.com has great legs. And believe me, that is sexy.
On to the next show—Streaming Media Europe in London in October—hope to see you there and spend some time. In the meantime, enjoy the photo gallery below.
—Joel Unickow
Well, at least they can agree on what's being served. Adobe's Kevin Towes, Microsoft's Chris Knowlton, and RealNetworks' Martin Schwartz on the Streaming Media-sponsored cruise.
Then again, maybe not...
Clearly, the gentleman at right knows a lot about this table, and he's trying to sell TwoFour Digital a stake in a multilevel
marketing scheme based on them.
The Three Amigos—Wowza's David Stubenvall, Charile Good, and Alex Dobrushin
TV1.EU's Michael Westphal showing off the brand-new miniCASTER
StreamingMediaGlobal.com's Sjoerd Vogt was forced to wear this vest until he
scanned enough badges.
Adobe's Kevin Towes and Desiree Motamedi, looking remarkable chipper on the last day of IBC.
Smoke and a pancake? Well, maybe just a pancake, Dutch-style. From right to left to right: David Sayed, Microsoft;
Chris Knowlton, Microsoft; Tim Siglin, Streaming Media; Mike Flathers, Sorenson Media; Tim Harader, Hypershow
Streaming Media's Joel Unickow and Seawell's Andy Beach, losing color at the annual Whiskey Cafe ritual. You all know who you are.
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