WHITE PLAINS, N.Y.—In what it is calling a “new chapter,” the Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers has announced its SMPTE 2020 Annual Technical Conference will take place as a “remote experience” when it gets underway in November.
“We are thrilled to deliver an immersive, world-class experience to our community around the world and we encourage each of you to think of this as YOUR SMPTE 2020—regardless of where you live,” the announcement reads.
SMPTE continues that the remote experience is eliminating the traditional barriers of travel, accommodations and scheduling conflicts, while also offering an interactive experience with learning and networking opportunities for a “broadly accessible and truly global conference.”
This is another major conference that has opted to go the virtual route in place of a traditional physical conference this year, following in the footsteps of NAB—for both its spring Las Vegas show and fall New York event—as well as IBC and more. SMPTE made no mention of the coronavirus pandemic in its official announcement, but SMPTE Executive Director Barbara Lange mentioned it during a video on the remote experience; the other conferences cited the pandemic as a key reason to go virtual.
SMPTE did share what they will be offering during this remote experience. The theme for this year’s conference is “Game On,” and a full day will be focused on the convergence of esports/gaming and media technology.
The virtual environment that attendees will have access to is expected to include a main conference hub, meeting rooms, theater space for sessions and an exhibition hall with private meeting space. Attendees can create their schedule based on their interests and schedules, SMPTE says.
The SMPTE 2020 Annual Technical Conference will be held from Nov. 10-12. For more information, visit 2020.smpte.org.
There is also a video from Lange detailing the remote experience, which you can watch below.
