FutureSPORT 2018: Record crowd attends Old Trafford event
Despite rail chaos throughout England, over 230 sports professionals attended SVG Europe’s 29 November FutureSPORT event at Manchester United.
This was a record crowd for an SVG Europe UK event outside London — despite the best efforts of Network Rail, which recorded its worst day for punctuality in 15 years last Thursday.
The rail network slowed down dramatically in anticipation of extreme weather borne by Storm Diana, with mass cancellations and delays to services on that day. However, as it turned out, the storm had largely blown itself out crossing Ireland the previous day and registered little but some stiff breezes across England on Thursday.
Most FutureSPORT attendees were attending by train: the SVG Europe team would like to thank each and every one who persevered on the day despite the rail chaos. SVG Europe would also like to thank all sponsors who made the event possible: AJA, Avid, Clear-Com, Cloudian, Dolby, EVS, Mobile Viewpoint, Panasonic and TVU Networks.
SVG Europe’s final event for 2018 featured an international content programme embracing such topics
as HDR, live IP and eSports, as well as panel sessions on the European Championships in Berlin and Glasgow last summer and the upcoming Rugby World Cup in Japan in 2019.
The content programme broke down as follows:
Sports Production Perspective: Drivers of Change
Presenter: Lorenzo Zanni, IABM, Head of Insight & Analysis
Preview Case Study: Rugby World Cup Japan 2019
Chair: Fergal Ringrose, SVG Europe, Executive Editor
Speakers: Alan Bright, IMG Studios, Vice President and Director of Engineering and Stuart Coles, Alston Elliot, Chief Commercial Officer
HDR and Live Sport: It’s Not Black and White
Sponsored by Panasonic
Chair: Will Strauss, SVG Europe, Contributing Editor
Speakers: Andy Beale, BT Sport, Chief Engineer; Shane Warden, ATP Media, Director of Broadcast and Technology; and Andrew Cotton, BBC Research & Development, Principal Technologist
Sponsor Case Study Presentation: Bringing the Highest Standard of Live Production into the eSports Arena
Presenter: Jens Fischer, EVS, Account Manager DACH
Keynote: In Conversation With… Barbara Slater, Director of BBC Sport
Speaker: Barbara Slater, Director of BBC Sport
Chair: Will Strauss, SVG Europe, Contributing Editor
IP Challenge: Moving Beyond SDI in Live Production
Sponsored by TVU Networks
Chair: Ken Kerschbaumer, SVG, Director Editorial Services
Speakers: Christian Gobbel, Host Broadcast Services, Head of Venue Engineering; Donald Begg, NEP Major Projects, Director of Technology; Malcolm Cowan, Timeline Television, Head of Technology; and Kim Francis, Grass Valley, Product Marketing Manager Networking
Session introduction: Colin Wood, TVU Networks, Business Development Director.
Case Study: European Championships Review
Sponsored by Avid
Chair: Fergal Ringrose, SVG Europe, Executive Editor
Speakers: Franck Choquard, EBU Sport, Head of Content & Servicing; Jason Cowan, Avid Technology, Business Development Manager (Sports and Graphics); Jonny Bramley, BBC Sport, Executive Producer; and Richard Morgan, BBC Sport, Chief Engineer
eSports and Traditional Broadcast: Crossing Boundaries
Chair: Heather McLean, SVG Europe, Contributing Editor
Speaker: James Dean, ESL UK, Chief Executive Officer