WASHINGTON—Taking place at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center in Washington, D.C., from Dec. 4–5, The Video Show is a two-day educational event with more than 100 educational and informational sessions, and an exhibit floor with tutorials and demonstrations, all designed for video professionals and enthusiasts.
Debuting in the United Kingdom in 2018, The Video Show is produced by TV Technology’s parent company, Future Plc.
“We wanted to develop an event that was almost entirely content driven—offering sessions from more than 100 speakers focusing on 16 different areas critical to today’s video professionals,” said Johnny Sullens, Future’s head of events.
Those 16 areas of focus will be explored across eight stages with more than 100 sessions over the two-day conference and cover a variety of topics that are designed to satisfy attendees no matter what field they come from. The full schedule can be found at www.thevideoshow.com.
“More than anything, we really want to support the region’s creative community and help its members develop and evolve,” said Cristina Clapp, content director for the conference. “I’d like the show to teach anyone attending something—hopefully many things—new, useful, constructive, inspiring. We want everyone to leave each day with more skills, more knowledge, more expertise—and head into new projects better equipped.”
CONTENT IS KING
Video has become such an integral part of countless industries, and while the sessions each have their own unique focus, the goal is to have attendees take in any program and learn something that they can apply to their particular area of interest, be that sports production, independent filmmaking, social media or wedding videography.
The Video Show takes over as an expanded version of what was previously the Government Video Expo, so one of the conference content “streams” will focus on the government, military and public sectors and how its members utilize video.
“The people working in public sector jobs have particular needs to deliver their products and get ahead in their careers,” said Paul McLane, managing director of content for Future’s B2B Media Technology brands and coordinator of the Military/Government stream. “For instance, we’ll have a presentation on how a government videographer/ photographer for a massive state agency can produce great work on a small budget.”
With the White House just a few blocks from the convention center, Voice of America’s White House Bureau Chief Steve Herman will discuss its unique position as an editorial service that is an extension of the government; Herman will explain how his team balances those responsibilities.
There’s more to D.C. than just the government, however, and a series of sessions have been developed to highlight producing news and video in the city. Terry Scutt, content director at Future and coordinator for the Producing News and Video in D.C. stream, has lined up individual sessions that will cover local news production, best practices for creating political ads or videos, the waiver process for drone operators trying to enter “no-fly zones” and a profile of unique locations with the D.C. Office of Cable Television, Film, Music and Entertainment. But her personal favorite session satisfies the sweet tooth, as Michael F. Cormier, the director of photography for TLC’s “DC Cupcakes,” will give a behind-the-scenes look at the show filmed in Georgetown.
TECHNOLOGY OF THE FUTURE
Beyond the city limits of the nation’s capital, streams like the Future of Video will offer attendees some advice on how video can be expected to evolve in the coming years.
“Technology is changing all the time, so we’re bringing together as many experts as we can to address different aspects—whether it’s exploring new imaging formats, looking at how to manage 8K content or considering how 5G will impact video delivery,” said Clapp, who is serving as the session’s coordinator.
Other highlights of the Video Show will include a question and answer session with the filmmaking team behind the award-winning documentary “17 Blocks;” a session on the future of mobile journalism as well as a boot camp focused on some of the tricks of the trade; CreativeMediaMatter’s Gail McCabe will offer guidance on how to prepare and reduce stress when shooting solo; and the founder of PBS NewsHour’s Student Reporting Lab will be joined by students currently in the program and creating news for PBS stations.
“Honestly, each time we finalize a session, that’s my new favorite one,” said Clapp.
The exhibit floor will feature industry-leading brands and innovative tech startups so attendees can discover and get hands-on with all of the latest products and software from exhibitors such as AJA, Canon, ENCO, K5600, LAWO, Quantum and many more.
“This year the goal is to establish The Video Show as an exciting platform for the mid-Atlantic video community, and then going forward we really want to grow the event in all aspects—education, visitors, networking sponsors and exhibitors,” Sullens said.
You can get the chance to experience The Video Show yourself Dec. 4–5. For more information on the show or to register, visit www.thevideoshow.com.
