The 2010 Streaming Media Dream Team
Since last year's Streaming Media Dream Team marked our first attempt to honour the leading lights in the world of online video and audio, we cast our net both wide and deep. So it was no surprise, really, that many of the names on the list were, well, no surprise. We took it as an opportunity to give long-overdue recognition to people who'd made the biggest impact on the European market in the last decade.
There are a few well-known names on this year's team, but we looked at our sophomore season, if you will, as a chance to focus our attention on lesser-known-but no less important-people in the industry. As with last year, we started by soliciting nominations from our readers, and we were thrilled by both the number and quality of suggestions, some of which, we admit, forced us to do a little digging of our own, only to unearth information that made us say, "Oh, so that's who did that!"
As always, though, we selected the team members based not only on their personal successes, which speak for themselves, but also for their commitment to sharing what they've learned with others, whether in public forums like our own StreamingMediaGlobal.com discussion lists-where several of them make their presence known almost daily-or behind the scenes.
You'll note that there are even a couple of team members who work in the U.S. or work for companies there. While it's crucial to focus on the specifics of the European market, there's no denying that innovation and education go beyond national boundaries, and this year's team proves it. If there's one common thread that ties all of them together, it's that online video isn't just a vocation for any of them; it's a calling, and one they want to share with as many people as possible.
Here's this year's team:
• Rami Alanko
• Alessandro Angeli
• Jonathan Brownstein
• Chris Dabbs
• Brian Levy
• Jaime Miles
• Craig Moehl
• Joachim Roos
• Jean Noël-Saunier
• Sven Slazenger
• Konstantin Wilms
We asked each of our All-Stars a few questions to help us assemble the football cards that follow:
• What are your proudest achievements?
• What's the "next big thing" you're working on?
• What's the biggest trend in online video right now?
• What's the biggest challenge facing the industry?
We didn't have room on the cards for all of the All-Stars' comments. For their complete responses, see http://europe.streamingmedia.com/Articles/ReadArticle.aspx?ArticleID=66291. Congratulations to all of them!
(You can find last year's team at http://europe.streamingmedia.com/Articles/ReadArticle.aspx?ArticleID=65438.)
Rami Alanko : CEO
Camtenna
www.camtenna.com
Previous Job Titles:
• VP, Business Development, GoodMood (video productions
• CEO, Gramofoni Records
Proudest Achievement:
• For the past 20 years I have been fortunate enough to work with the things I love to do. It has been a constant learning experience that always seems to lead to new adventures. But naturally the proudest achievements of all are my two kids and a wife that still bears with me.
Biggest Trend In Online Video:
"There is a lot of talk concerning HTML5 and other technologies that could be named here. The main trend to me, however, is the ongoing, profound change of communications where online video is in the very heart of it. Online video already seems to be everywhere but this is just a start."
Biggest Challenge Facing the Industry:
"We do have to remember that this industry is still in its teens and far from being a stable market. We already have come a long way and without doubt established online video's credibility."
Alessandro Angeli: Senior Designer
CourtSmart Digital Systems
www.courtsmart.com
Previous Job Titles:
• Chief of R&D at So.Ge.Tel. s.r.l. (an Italian company)
• Chief of R&D at Omniaway s.r.l. (an Italian company)
Proudest Achievement:
• I have received the Microsoft MVP award in the digital media field for 8 years in a row. And what made it possible was the reverse-engineering of enough of the internals of Windows Media Player to provide the community with the crucial pieces of information missing from documentation without which writing sources, decoders, and filters for WMP would be impossible.
• The creation of a file format that doubles as storage format (with all the capabilities of MP4, MKV, ASF or MXF plus more) and transport stream (with all the capabilities of RTP and MPEG-2 TS and more) and that is error-tolerant while keeping the overhead lower than OGG.
Next Big Thing You're Working On:
"An audio/video recording and streaming platform for real-time two-way communications and live and on-demand broadcasting."
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