As I write my brief summary of IBC I sit here with renewed enthusiasm on multiple levels. As my first official event as a member of the incredible team at UIC Digital (formerly known as Ui Centric), I was taking a step into the known, but unknown. I’ve been to the event multiple times, with my previous employers, but I’ve always had a stand to call home and generally been focused on potential or current broadcast, telco, sports or OTT clients. This was somewhat different….
Being less than a quarter of a year into my tenure, I am still learning every day about the myriad capabilities, projects, and areas of expertise (there seems no end!) of UIC Digital and when meeting with potential clients, partners and general like-minded folk, it was fascinating to see the perception of our company through others’ eyes. We are certainly known and highly respected, but others also were not aware of the breadth and depth of our case studies and core competencies. The brand change I think, in one fell swoop, has helped to showcase the fact that our expertise is in fact wider-ranging and it has been well received (according to unscientific qualitative research, mainly in bars).
So, what about IBC more generally: Well, it was in rude health quite frankly. Numbers seemed up and back to pre-covid times, meetings were back-to-back, it took longer to get past people on the walkways and stands seemed busy. Most of my time was spent between Halls 5 and 1, where AI (or ML) was prevalent both in written word on stands and in conversation – a little like FAST was last year, but people are beginning to realise that is not the business saviour that some thought. AI is here to stay folks and across multitudes of verticals, the implementation is simply going to change the broadcast space (and of course the entire World).
And what about UIC Digital’s specific experience? Well, I certainly walked a lot (doc will be pleased) – but actually, it was fantastic to not be handcuffed for once, as I wandered trying to find where our next meeting was, bumping into old and new friends, seeing the innovation across production, gaming, back-end, graphics, etc. Really cool stuff everywhere I went. For us, the priority was on our new partnership programme – not the traditional and rarely successful ‘reseller’ agreements, but much more targeted to like-minded companies who have products at their core but require high-end services organisations such as ourselves to integrate into the tier ones. This was hugely successful, and many are seeing the sense in our approach (delivered with aplomb by my colleague, Head of Partnerships, Paul Clement). The follow-ups will be the true marker to the success of this initiative and the hard work, as ever after IBC, begins now.
One final word – IBC is hard work, particularly as one gets older (I had a significant birthday whilst there), one starts first thing in the morning and finishes late at night. One of the most pleasing aspects was the openness of people, particularly men of my generation (where it has always previously been taboo) to talk about mental health and well-being. So many impromptu conversations where people opened up in private or in groups about past or current struggles, and I have to say this is one part of the changing world that I am massively behind. Well done to you, you know who you are – and to others whom I didn’t speak with, we know better than ever that support networks are everywhere you might look, don’t be afraid to open up….
Brand change ✔️
Partnerships programme ✔️
Learning on the job ✔️
Mental health ✔️