| Did you go to IBC 2008 this year? Visit beautiful Amsterdam to check out the latest news, trends and technology developments in the world of broadcast and Internet video? Did it seem just bit more crowded? Here's the scoop  IBC2008 has proved to be a record-breaking event in visitor numbers, registrations and exhibitors, with just short of 50,000 people visiting the RAI's 1400 exhibitors over the show's five days.
It was a show to remember with many stimulating presentations and showcases, world first demonstrations, a prestigious awards ceremony and an excellent themed conference programme, which included free sessions covering technologies such as IPTV, Mobile and Digital Signage.
Thrilled with the overall success, IBC COO, Mike Crimp, said: "IBC2008 has been the most successful show ever with a record attendance of 49,250. The quality of visitors and the experiences has led IBC2008 to be a very exciting and vibrant show. The feedback received from the exhibition floor was that it was buzzing. Why? Because IBC offers a compelling proposition which all comes together under one roof, proving that the show was the only place to be at this time of the year."
The exhibition housed over 1400 exhibitors from all over the world, providing exclusive showcases, business critical content, one-to-one meetings and first-rate networking opportunities. John Holton, exhibition chairman said: "All the research suggests that the broadcast and electronic media market is continuing to flourish, and that has certainly been borne out by the IBC exhibition. Our exhibitors are absolutely delighted, not just by the number of visitors they are seeing but because they are talking serious business. They clearly believe in IBC - before the show even opened this year there was a queue outside the office to book space for 2009."
Highlighting the success of the conference, David Crawford, conference chairman said: "This has been, yet again, a fantastic and truly stimulating conference. IBC has proved itself to be the definitive global forum for everyone involved in the multimedia and broadcast business." This year's conference keynote was presented by previous recipient of the IBC International Honour for Excellence, Dr Leonardo Chiariglione who examined the successes and weaknesses demonstrated by broadcasters in this age of universally available technology.
One of the hot topics this year to make its debut alongside Mobile and IPTV as a zone and Business Briefings was Digital Signage. Creating new business opportunities for broadcast technology vendors and system integrators, digital signage presented forward strategies and business models.
The glittering IBC awards ceremony was once again a great success with honours going to projects as diverse as a multi-platform content distribution system, a simple idea to save studio lighting bills, and a system to bring 16x the resolution of HD to our screens.
The IBC2008 International Honour for Excellence was awarded to Oscar-nominee and multiple award-winner, Jeffrey Katzenberg, CEO of DreamWorks Animation SKG. This was the first-ever transatlantic telecast in high definition 3D to be broadcast live from Los Angeles transmitted to an audience in the IBC Big Screen Auditorium.
'Hannah Montana & Miley Cyrus: Best of Both Worlds Concert in 3D' took the Judges' Prize in the awards. Howard Lukk, vice president of production technology, The Walt Disney Studios said :"Special thanks really does go to IBC because it was here last year that I actually met with all those people, and after looking Quantel in the eye and saying 'will you support me in one month to do this project', they stepped up to the plate and really supported us. So thank you IBC - thank you."
This year's Special Award was for the first international transmission of Super Hi-Vision Content. presented to Dr Keiichi Kubota, director general of the Science & Technical Research Laboratories of NHK. "I know that my colleagues at the BBC, RAI and EBU will join me in thanking our industry partners - Cable & Wireless, Eutelsat, Siemens and SIS Outside Broadcasts - who are investing heavily in broadband and satellite capacity over an extended period to make this work."
Other award winners can be found at www.ibc.org.
IBC played host to a range of companies showcasing audio and video innovations and solutions in the 1800-seat world class Big Screen. Leading suppliers such as, Red, Panasonic and Doremi demonstrated their latest developments and technology to an auditorium packed with excited visitors and exhibitors.
Courtesy of Warner Bros. International, Walden Media & New Line Cinema, the IBC Big Screen showed 'Journey to the Center of the Earth - in 3D', the first live action motion picture to be shot in digital 3D. It was the big screen directorial debut of Academy Award-winning visual effects veteran Eric Brevig. Eric introduced the movie and led a question and answer session after the screening; together with Richard Welsh from Dolby, who supplied the 3D presentation system.
"Taking Jules Verne's well known novel and developing it into an up to date story with new characters, using modern technology was a tremendously exciting opportunity," said Brevig. "My goal with this film was to capture the spirit of adventure, discovery and belief that anything is possible."
The popular Training Zone also returned this year to IBC and was brought to you by Avid Technology, in association with Intel, HP and VET. The free sessions in the Training Zone proved popular throughout the show, adding even more value to visitors attending the show.
IBC was pleased to welcome UK Trade Minister Lord Digby Jones. Lord Digby Jones chose IBC2008 as the venue to launch the Benelux network, a new trade initiative between the UK, Holland, Belgium and Luxembourg.
IBC also welcomed Ambassador James Culbertson, the 64th Ambassador of the United States of America to the Kingdom of the Netherlands. On his visit to IBC2008, Culbertson spoke at length to various exhibitors, interacted with some of the technology on display and walked around the halls to get a feel for the amazing size of IBC.
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