What an astoundingly perfect storm of disconnect in which we find ourselves. Largely due to the pandemic, of course. But there’s also an increasingly dispersed workforce which is decentralizing for so many reasons, including the proliferation of streaming services and global tax incentives. All of which you already know, because you’re an audience of studied entertainment technologists and savvy executives. It barely bears repeating. Nonetheless, the effects on us all are profound.
As a result of our collective observations about these shifts in the film, TV and broadcast industries, most of us are laser focused on doing what we’re here to do – building services and platforms designed to unify teams in the trenches of their respective art forms. For my part, I seek to unite studios and their outsourced teams by making a fragmented multi-cloud, multi-workflow, multi-phase production pipeline feel seamless, instant, and unquestionably safe. As for the partners and companies in our orbit – storage softwares, collaboration tools, the cloud itself…they’re all equally in service of connection. The future is here, and it’s more user friendly than you think. It has no other choice.
I just hope we’re also paying attention to how far we’re willing to go to connect and collaborate ourselves. Case in point: The Mesaverse.
A year (or so) of living digitally come full circle
In lieu of the live NAB conference in Las Vegas this year, the Media & Entertainment Services Alliance put together, in startlingly short order, a virtual conference set in, well, a video game. I fashioned a blazered avatar and delighted in jumping around the virtual space as familiar names floated by above digital people. At one point, forgetting to mute, I accidentally interrupted a live presentation as I wandered around muttering to myself “where can I take a selfie in front of our logo?” My misstep aside, the execution on the part of MESA was spirited and largely efficient.
Through the Rendez Vu platform, presentations were viewable in their own designated spaces, and on-demand Zoom meetings were possible too, if predictably clunky. There’s something about encountering a potential partner or customer in what feels like “The Sims” that for better or worse, is inherently awkward. But not only did we make do, we brought our honest reticence and sense of adventure right along with us. Because we have to. Because collaboration and connection might be just as vital to us as individuals and vendors as it is to the studios and creative teams we strive to serve.
Let’s connect
When I sat down to write this blog, it was with the intention of summarizing the various trends, presentations and themes arising from the conference. You know, a “what’s the latest?” type thing. But the conference itself, the form it took, and how we showed up and so gamely adapted – well, if that’s not the latest, then I don’t know what is.
I can be reached at Lisa.Gerber@packetfabric.com
For those in/around Los Angeles who are ready and willing to meet in the real world, my mask and I will be there.