So why would a sports video group host
a conference in Silicon Valley and invite audio video engineers? Let's talk about it. Hey everybody, welcome back to Tim and Tim talk event production. My name is Tim Kay executive producer of Argus HD where we do event AV and broadcast and with me, of course Tim Kerbavaz. Tim, great to see you. He's a technical director at Talon audio visual Tim. How are you today? Doing great. I'm in my summer Hawaiian best even though it's winter and rainy. Oh my goodnes
s, you you know you pull it off in any season. You're probably one of those guys that shows up to show in flip-flops because you just you you ooze that coolness about you, which is by the way. I'm glad you don't charge for it because clients wouldn't be able to afford it. That's the swag you bring to the shows. I don't know. It's just the drape swag and I gotta get the the pipe and drape all pinned up this nice. Yeah. I love it. I love it. Well, listen. Hey, thanks everybody for for the viewers
that have been tuning in. We really appreciate your support. We really like the questions that you've been asking and of course if you just found us, thanks so much. Make sure to check out our archive. Where we've talked about a host of different subjects.
On this one, Tim, tables are turning a little bit, right? Oh, yeah, so we're we've talked
about events that we've produced we've talked about events we've attended and today I wanted to ask you about an event that you attended and I am super j
ealous
because I could not go I had a conflict and I am really bummed from looking at the lineup tell me about this conference that you went to and why- Did it feel like by the way- did you really miss out when I was texting you updates throughout the show and then I was literally yeah-
I was literally loading out a show and I'm getting these texts from Tim and it's like look at this great speaker. I'm like, ahh! I want to be there! Next time we should just live stream it to the channel and we c
ould do commentary over it. Actually not I'm really glad to focus and enjoy it. So Tim, what was this event that I'm so jealous I couldn't come to? Tim put your seat. Put your seat belt on right now. Let's go, I got these acronyms. This was SVVS, which was the Silicon Valley Video Summit. Run by SVG - Sports Video Group. Are you with me? We got a lot of s's and a lot of V's, but I think I'm following. Yeah, not your favorite Scrabble words here. So this event was interesting, right? So what is a
sports video group doing running a Silicon Valley event, which is really targeted towards the the technical sector or the the businesses in Silicon Valley having nothing to do with sports. I love the sports background. That's actually my background working in 10 years with sports and it really glazed like you and I are in the right space right now Tim by transitioning over to here we're transitioning- we've been here for a while now, but this is really there's so much technology. There's so muc
h event AV
research, R&D, there's many exciting ways to communicate and a lot of these- I almost said venues, excuse me, a lot of these conference these businesses essentially have studios built into them, whereas before it was, you know, you have to go to a facility basically every one of these places, you know, Google, Microsoft. You name the tech company, they have a little studio space built in. This was a conference bringing all of these producers together to talk technology. It's really in
teresting you talk about that where there's this video and AV that are really becoming one and the same, and one of the things really about you know, in in some of my blog posts and some of our conversations is that our industry and particularly where you and I sit on this next nexus of the in-the-room AV experience and the video broadcast experience is is really we're
drawing from two distinct, but overlapping traditions, right? The in-the-room event experience is coming from a theater traditio
n and we use words and concepts
and roles from theater. And then we have the broadcast side. The live streaming is coming from television. We use words and roles and models of television and we're you
know in this space both your company my company and our peers in this space are overlapping the theater and the television experiences and
the people and we've talked a little bit more about how some of those words kind of get confusing because there's different vocabulary in those spaces. It's rea
lly- A hundred percent. -a conference really about that concept of bringing those worlds together. And though and the walls are coming down between these two whether it's AV whether it's broadcast, you you really kind of have to be it's very rare to just only be one you really have to understand all of it and when you can offer that service to your client or to the production, it's really a seamless offering. So this is really what they were targeting for was these folks the- as you said so eloq
uently, the blurring of the lines between, you know event AV and broadcast. And so who were these people I mean you talked about some of these potential clients and some of these kind of stakeholders, but who was in the room and and who is this event really for and what were they getting out of it? Yeah. Yeah, so I went there Tim really sort of with an open mind and not really knowing what to expect. I looked at this I looked at the agenda. I gave it a quick once over I said great. This looks fa
ntastic and
then when I got there it really it met all of my expectations. Very happy. But also with that right, I don't need to necessarily dial into every part of it. So the beginning part where I believe let me see here where they talked about, you know, oh SMPTE, you know, 210, fantastic
technology what they're doing- completely not relevant to where I am currently in my space. That's probably when I was starting to tweet you at some of those points there Tim, but really
when for me what rea
lly captured a hundred percent of my attention and I'm really glad that they spent time and it's like when they went into the digital first when they sort of talked about the transformation of live event technology because that is- that's A Tim what our show is about. B Tim I think that's kind of like what our careers are about and really to see us as an industry taking stage and hearing the ideas. It was it was fantastic. So there is producers from- technical producers from the aforementioned
c
ompanies. There was technicians in there. There's folks like myself in there which is kind of like that service these companies as well. So really just kind of like a who's who in Silicon Valley of event
technology and broadcast. And you mentioned that some of these companies that were there both on the client side on the production side and some of the people there were you know, really we were talking about some of those names were really people that we know well as industry leaders in this sp
ace what were people saying both from the stage and in your hallway conversations about the future of digital events in California? So what that's an interesting question Tim a
lot of what they're saying is exactly what you and I know and probably our listeners know right? Digital events. They're here to stay. They're not going anywhere the basic technology of how to put them together. We
we get all of that but really what was sort of like, you know, exciting was you know, the different sort of
ways that we can you know, how do I say this? The technology that is coming that can make a digital event more engaging also some of the strategies that were involved of like, where do you set up your cameras your talent if I'm on stage and this is a digital first event, you know, should I be looking right here at the camera or should I be looking away at the audience in person? There's a lot of thought that was going into that. And what is the best practices you know for that? And were there an
y trends or things on the horizon that you heard about that you're looking forward to or that are things you're excited about? Oh, man. So Tim, you know San Francisco Green Screen is our it's basically our broadcast green screen studio that we built check it out. If anyone's in the Bay Area they want a tour or they want to see what they've done. As a matter of fact this control room right here connects right to the studio it's using NDI, it's using all this technology that was on display and tal
ked about at the event but really
one of the questions I had in my head Tim is like, "Do we need to do it anymore?" "Is our studio even relevant?" We just- the paint has just dried on it. It's only two years old if it's still relevant and I say this because of the capabilities of AI and
let me tell you as somebody that loves technology, I was absolutely fascinated and
can't wait for this technology to come out and as somebody that owns a green screen studio, I'm
thinking okay, It's time to tear
down the walls and make that into a storage space because it just might become relevant. A
little tongue-in-cheek there because these technologies take years to develop and also become to a point where it's beginning to become, you know production reliable, but it was very exciting to see you know in the demo, but also Tim we've seen demos before You know. Sometimes creative editing. I think you've got a- It's a nice new technology. You do have a great space. I spend a lot of time there with you
working out of your space and it's a really cool environment and really is I think an asset to the Bay Area's production community. So I commend you for that space you've built and I think I think you can hold on to it for a little bit before you bring it over here, right? Hey guys. Hey the "For Sale" sign - take it down, we're keepin' it! So we've talked about some of the technologies that were showcased, who were the presenters that you were most excited to see and you know, I heard there wer
e some pretty big names. You sent me some pictures I was like, whoa, they're speaking? Totally. What was that all about? Tim, you know we're total nerds first off when we get excited about this lineup and I love it. So, you know first off the- seeing friends on stage and speak to it. Here's a picture and Mikey good good dear friend of mine known him for, gosh years, if not decades. Great seeing him talk on stage really agreed with what he said and you know, just listening to what his strategy wa
s during the pandemic and how he transitioned, what he was doing a lot of it, you know was similar to what we're doing here. So it felt very reaffirming as well. Totally geeked out met the H, Tim. This is a moment where I'm gonna brag here. Met the H of B&H, nice guy. They've taken so much of my money in the best possible way but
they're a fantastic store and to meet the guy of B&H who flew from New York to come to the summit, you know just really is a testament to just how important what we're
doing here is to essentially the industry as a whole really nice guy great conversation. He's
investing in community outreach and Tim I thought about us too because that's what you and I are doing right now. We're investing into the community. We're giving back we're sharing our knowledge and our experience and that's what brought them. So keep up your good work Tim. This is what giving back looks like. And did you get any ideas for things that we should be talking more about on the show? You kn
ow, I think we're on the right track, you know, but hey viewer, right now leave a comment here. What do you think? Are we on the right track or are we talking about what you want to? We respond to this feedback this by the way, is an interactive show, we love those comments. We look- Tim do we look? Read? We respond, we change course. Yeah. Yeah and we've gotten some comments from other viewers saying "Hey, you left something out." So if we've missed something, if we're not covering what you wan
t to hear about tell us. Oh, well speaking of which Tim I left out, of course the-
as I refer to him in my LinkedIn post, the GOAT of the engineers. This is you know for our generation, sort of the the top of the Mecca of engineering- could not be a more humble gentleman. Steve
Wozniak was absolutely fantastic if by- for the for the two viewers that name does not ring a bell, co-founder of Apple. Yes, that's right. Steve Jobs actually- if he wrote code at all, it was minimal. I think he didn't e
ven write code but he was a fantastic salesman. Steve Wozniak was the one was the brain child, and hearing his origin story was absolutely amazing. Tim, I am a little embarrassed of my childhood now considering what he put together in his childhood. So I was surprised though to be honest. Why was he talking at this show, at this event? Because you know, we're not engineers that look into coding. Why would he be there? I learned he's part of SMPTE. SMPTE is the the broadcast standard for for vide
o transmission. Am I saying that correctly, or..? Yeah, that's just the Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers is SMPTE, it's a standards body that defines the underlying technologies of television broadly, right? And what motion picture- the technologies that motion picture is based on so things like SDI, and things like, you just mentioned SMPTE 2110 this digital, you know, media standard are defined by this body and really they're focused on engineering for broadcast, for movies,
for TV, for internet. How do you get video from here to there? How do you, you know, agree on that- you know these different manufacturers equipment all talk the same language and so it's really interesting to hear that Steve Wozniak is working with SMPTE because obviously there's that huge engineering acumen there. Did you get a sense of what he was developing for SMPTE? I mean working. I think I think he's still potentially working, but he worked on and the technology that I'm not going to do
it justice so, you know do a Google search of what it was that he did and his contribution but it was basically the fabric of how we use it. He it was such a key component. So thank you Steve Wozniak for your contribution to to broadcast back in the day. He went into a great story about VCRs. He went into a great story about how he connected his computers to to tube TVs and turned it into a computer monitor. I mean unbelievable. I think this was all before he was 18 if you can believe that or no
t but also talked about how he was- how he gave back to the community after he left Apple and I think became like a teacher essentially if you could believe that, taught fifth graders, he's a passionate man about education and what's really
key, a big takeaway is if somebody wants to learn it, they're gonna learn it. Your job, my job is to make it entertaining. Give them that spark and then from there if there's an interest they'll find a way to learn especially in today's environment. I think t
hat's a good lesson for us because I think you know, I personally get bogged down in the details and trying to convey so much information on this show, this podcast, and and I think you know the reminders that you know, we're only sharing nuggets of information here. And when we encourage our viewers, if you're really interested, you know dig deeper and certainly reach out to us if you have questions, but there's so many resources both on the internet, on YouTube, podcasts, you know, the standar
ds bodies all publish documentation. You can like download the PDF of these SMPTE standards and so it's really, you know, if you're interested in understanding how these technologies work, there's so much information out there and and it's what makes all of us better makes the industry better when we all you know deep dive on something and really get a sense of where we're going whether that's, you know on our own online or at these collaborative conferences where folks are really coming togethe
r to share that knowledge. And you know, that's really what it is the industry coming together. And this was one of the smaller ones are we we go to NAB where
there's tens of thousands, if not a hundred thousand people that come so to be in a room with only 500 of your peers is really a great opportunity if there's
not an organization like this where where you listen are watching this, you know organize one. Be that conduit that brings these events together because let me tell you the hallway co
nversations that I had were absolutely fantastic. The conversations- one of the big conversations on stage that really intrigued me was VR, right? So, you know tongue in cheek, we're gonna close up shop. We're not closing up shop in our green screens because as a matter of fact, we're gonna double down on our investments and one of those is around VR. So it's an emerging technology that it excites me, the challenges around it are, you know, immense and complex. So
having industry leaders there w
as great. Made a lot of new friends, got phone numbers, got emails and I'm gonna follow up with them and pick their brains as those that are coming into our industry should do for folks like you and I or whoever is around your local area. Absolutely.
Absolutely and we are certainly invite folks to reach out to us in the comments or email. You know, we're always happy to chat. Now this event, you know, it was about video broadcasting.
So, how was the live stream? Oh, I'm sorry Tim. Did you say? L
ive? Live stream. There was clearly a live stream of this event about live streaming, right? This is one of these. Oh bless their hearts one of their events. Where do as we say, not as we do. So listen, it was a free event to go to, let's we'll cut em a pass, eh? No live stream, which is ironic. Hey, I tell you what, you know, give us a call. Let's coordinate. Let's figure out a plan. We're live streaming pros, bring us in there, we'll help you out. We have the technology to do it. Let us work t
ogether no live stream Tim at all. It's really hard to believe, you know, and essentially I think they like pocket cinema cameras in the back with a beautiful glass and I'm sure it's gonna be a really nice recording. But essentially it was to post which the irony was not lost on a lot of people that we're talking about state of the art video transmission in nano seconds. And I think that the video is gonna be uploaded in you know, three to six weeks. Well, certainly fun, you know you talk about
you know this live stream and lack thereof, but it brings me to the question of you know, obviously we do events everyone at this event, you know does live streaming. What is the experience we're trying to give our audiences and why you know was this an in-person only event effectively and what are some other examples of how you know the times we would want to do that versus really make things online? And it really made me think about that point Tim. That was a really good point because you and
I, this is our space where we communicate- where our business is essentially to communicate with folks. Do we do it digitally first? Do we talk in the camera only? Do we do event AV? We blur these lines every
single day, but when is it the right time that we advise our clients of when it becomes in-person only when it becomes virtual like maybe save some money you don't need all these cameras. Are you really going to get the value out of that? I've talked clients out of cameras saying, "You know
, really I don't think that this is gonna help your show. I hear the result that you want. You're not gonna get it by adding a camera over here or adding another switcher." You know, you have to really think about it Tim right if you think about like some of the premiere NFL games, right the playoffs, the Super Bowl, folks are paying 3,000, $5,000 a ticket, if not more, to go to the game. They know that watching
it is not gonna be that great. They know that the experience is gonna be fantastic.
So really like I think at the end of the day, and this is how we communicate to our clients, is what is that experience you're going for? Is it something technical? Is it- are you updating your code? Are you doing potentially a product release? Can we do this video for the masses, right, for your hundred thousand your million people and then can you do a smaller in-person [event] and just invite sort of like, you know, the core people? You can potentially make it expensive so you can offer them
a fantastic experience. So really, what is that right one? Is it one? Is that the other? You know, there's no wrong way, hybrid is not going anywhere, right Tim, you know, we thought we were gonna close up all of our Zoom stations. They're still around. And I think that's key Tim, that thinking about that experience that each audience has, that those are distinct experiences and you really have to design your event and really consider that experience for both your in-person and online audiences
at the same time. I hear from peers in the
industry that a lot of folks in positions like ours are feeling worn out from hybrid events. They're feeling like you know it sometimes it's not worth it. And I think- or that it's a lot of work sometimes and I think that you know, when we talk with each other, when we talk with our friends and colleagues, when we talk to clients, we're helping them understand and decide when it is worth it and when it's not and I think that the key is: it is work and c
ertainly I think that's my job is to do that work and help our clients, you know, understand those needs and to be successful
but I think that really understanding that the work that we're putting it is in service of that audience experience and that's why we're doing it, it's not frivolous. And what's funny is we've talked about this before is essentially a hybrid or virtual event is really just a broadcast event. It's almost bringing this all together. You know what SVG brought
together essent
ially being a broadcast first and bringing it into an event technology, right? That's essentially what we've been talking about. So maybe it does make sense and I'm really glad that they brought it together right?
A lot of thought leaders some of the industry experts great producers Tim. Try to be free. I would love to have you sit next to me so we can talk and we can you know, it was great tweeting with you, but let's do it in person next year. I'll be there in person. We'll sit in that audienc
e and really combine TV and events. I love it. Love it. Cool. Well, so I mean that's pretty much the experience in a nutshell, make sure that you know, if there's an event happening in your area, I strongly encourage you to go, you know, ask questions, network, we keep- this is something I think we talk about in every show networking is the best business asset that you can you can nurture so that's
a great way to do it. So Tim with that, I mean anything else? Any closing thoughts here? I think w
e're all set. Thank you so much for telling me about that. And like I said, bummed I couldn't make it, but I appreciate living vicariously
through you. With that, I'm Tim Kerbavaz. Well Tim, do we want to talk about people? I know you're in a rush to get out of here. But you know, we have the comments. Well, you know people messaging us we should tell them to you know, we answer that the comments and the.. We do, we do answer comments. We we answer questions by email. You can reach us at Tim's,
T-I-M-S at-
Just one. Tim and Tim talk dot com. Just one S. Tims at Tim and Tim talk dot com. Send us an email reach out to us. If you have questions or need help with a project need us to answer some questions. Leave a comment. If you want us to cover other topics- We're a resource at the end of the day. Happy to be there, happy to be a part of your network and really understand, you know, helping you work on your projects and connect you to our broader network as well. We have lots of folks in
in connections and lots of places and we're always happy to help, you know, folks make those connections. Well said, Tim, well said. With that, my name is Tim Kay. And I'm Tim Kerbavaz, and we talked. Aaaand
weeeee talked! Tim, together. We we're clearly not practicing enough. All right, folks. See you next time.
Comments