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Government
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Are You All In? Variety of video professionals prep for NAB2006
By CMP staff
Apr 21, 2006, 13:46
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It's not much of a gamble to call NAB2006 the world's largest electronic media show. The National Association of Broadcasters will take over the Las Vegas Convention Center April 22-27 (exhibits open April 24), drawing video professionals from across the world.
According to Dennis Wharton, senior vice president of corporate communications, NAB officials are cautiously optimistic that NAB2006 will attract close to 100,000 attendees. Almost of a quarter of attendees will be international, and several thousand government video personnel are expected as well. "That's a big component of the show," he noted.
Wharton emphasized that NAB isn't a show just for broadcasters. "It's the place to be if you want to do business in the electronic media space," he said. According to NAB research, he added, an estimated $30.4 billion in sales were generated by last year's convention.
As a result, the 800,000 square feet of exhibit space will be filled with close to 1,400 exhibitors. The usual suspects will be there - industry cornerstones Sony, JVC, Panasonic, and Grass Valley will be scattered across the LVCC, along with hundreds of other familiar companies, including Anton/Bauer, Chyron, Avid, and PESA. But companies like Microsoft, which aren't in the broadcast business but are players in communication technology, will have a presence as well.
Beyond the show floor, NAB2006 will feature a variety of educational opportunities, covering everything from traditional broadcast issues to Web content development and podcasting. Note, some of the conference programs begin a day or two before the show floor opens on April 24, so be sure to confirm your schedule.
The Broadcast Engineering Conference, Broadcast Management Conference, and the Business, Law & Regulation Conference all target specific broadcast station professionals with several days of sessions. MoTV: Mobile Video & TV Forum will feature discussions on the emerging mobile video market on April 25, while the IPTV World conference on April 26 will discuss another hot topic in the industry: telco-delivered video.
Produced with Future Media Concepts, the NAB Post|Production World Conference will offer hundreds of hands-on training sessions featuring NLE products from Adobe, Apple, and Avid, as well as lighting, field audio, and digital photography tutorials. It also includes a two-day NAB Podcasting Summit, which will address production, distribution, and business topics.
Conference registrants also get access to free "Super Sessions," which will cover topics such as Internet TV and digital media distribution. Plus, all attendees are invited to attend the opening ceremony and keynote address on April 24 at the Las Vegas Hilton Barron Room at 9 a.m. (next door to the LVCC). New NAB president and CEO David Rehr will deliver his first State of the Industry Address. In addition, former network anchors Tom Brokaw, the late Peter Jennings, and Dan Rather will each receive the NAB Distinguished Service Award.
In addition, the NAB Education Foundation will host a career fair on April 26. Held in conjunction with the Broadcast Education Association and the Radio-Television News Directors Association, video industry companies and stations will be recruiting for a variety of positions. There are a number of additional special events scheduled throughout NAB2006 for attendees as well.
Other organizations will use NAB2006 as a backdrop for their own activities. The PBS Technology Conference will run April 19-22 at the MGM Grand Hotel. RTNDA@NAB will be at the Las Vegas Hilton April 23-26. And the Broadcast Education Association will set up shop at the LVCC April 27-29.
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