This is why I am attending NAB, why are you?

I have been attending NAB for more years than I care to admit. Generally, I am not a big convention/seminar person. Like most of us, my schedule is very full, so it is hard to find time. I must admit, however that, for the most part, those conventions I have attended have been time well spent. And I’d put NAB on top of my list. Networking with others in the industry, learning (or re-learning!) new things, and getting out of the day-to-day crunch is very helpful to professional development in our ever-changing profession.

Over the years, my priorities for attending NAB have changed. The first time I attended was on behalf of the production company I worked for. I was looking for new technology that we may want to deploy and planning for new facilities we were building. Then, after I started Broadcast Management Group in 2005, I would go to NAB to look for new technologies that BMG might want to use on our live shows. Now, in 2019, we are sending eight people to NAB and have extended the number of days we’re attending. How things change!

As BMG has grown over the last 14 years our NAB focus has been a mix of the following:

Supporting Our Live Production Division

Evaluating technology that BMG might deploy for our live shows: trucks, transmissions, encoding equipment, VR, AR, wireless technology, 4K, and any additional equipment that can add on-screen production value. Interested what technologies new manufacturers have to offer, as well as the major manufacturers we work with regularly.

Supporting Our Consulting, Engineering and Integration Division

Attending NAB with clients we are planning build out projects for, meeting with manufacturers to see the latest demos of their hardware and software offerings.

Having our engineering team and staff consultants meet with manufacturers to review technologies that we may incorporate into future build outs of studio and mobile unit projects.

Meeting with manufacturers with whom we have reseller agreements.

Evaluating emerging technologies and manufacturers.

Supporting BMG’s Ongoing Equipment Investments

For years, BMG had a policy of not acquiring equipment for itself. We generally chose to rent per project. However, with the growing volume of BMG projects and the change in flight pack capability, we started making major equipment investments in 2018. This will now be ongoing as we build out our equipment distribution centers in Washington D.C. and Las Vegas to service, respectively, the east and west coasts. Looking ahead to 2020, we are planning to build out a distribution center in Chicago to support the mid-west.

Supporting BMG’s Event Management Division

Our event division in looking at lighting, staging, and audio technologies for rent or purchase to support our event projects.

Business Development

Setting up meetings with potential clients, production partners, and vendors who are attending the show.

The Plan of Attack

• Identify who we need to send to NAB, and for how many days.
• Identify which seminars each person should sign up for.
• Develop a NAB shared calendar for the group.
• Set weekly NAB meetings with the attending team to compare notes.
• Identify which clients will be attending NAB with us. Have the BMG project lead for each client identify what is important for them to see and what days they should attend.
• Identity who we need to meet with and assign a BMG person to schedule meetings and add to the shared calendar.
• Identify what vendors we need to meet with outside of the NAB hours and schedule meetings. Identify who, from BMG, should attend.
• Identify what potential clients we need to meet with outside of the NAB hours and schedule meetings. Identify who, from BMG, should attend.
• Optimize our experience by dividing the BMG team up to cover more ground on the exhibit hall floor and at events.
• Hold a post-NAB event wrap up call, to identify action items and assign responsibilities. Share notes with others throughout the company.

So that is the BMG plan. What are you looking to see this year? What is most important to you? I look forward to your thoughts and recommendations.