Streaming Media East 2005 Wrap-Up

If trade show attendance is any indication, then 2005’s Streaming Media East proved that the streaming and rich media delivery market is stronger than ever. With nearly 400 conference attendees—four times as many as attended two years ago—and more than 1600 people checking out the 42 exhibitors on the show floor, this year’s show at the Hilton New York bodes well for the health of the industry.

Some people, including one grey-haired film distribution vet who admitted he had no idea at all how streaming worked but knew it was time for him to get in the game, were checking out the world of rich media delivery for the first time. But most attendees were well-versed in the technology and looking for ways to maximize its potential. "When the technology itself becomes transparent, that’s when you know it’s arrived," said Streaming Media Inc. executive VP Dan Rayburn in his opening remarks. "When you send a fax, you don’t think about the technology. Streaming is getting closer to that point every day." Here’s a look at some of the show highlights.

Enterprise Digital Media: Bringing it All Together
In the opening day’s keynote, Citigroup first vice president of network engineering Tony Raimundo said he could sum up his entire message in a single word: integrate. "You need to understand your entire enterprise technology environment," he said. "Don’t pigeonhole or focus only on one component." To prove his point, he showed a PowerPoint presentation that broke down the various stages in the process—content creation, ingress, amelioration, publishing, and fulflillment—and suggested ways for those in charge of digital media to get the most out of other divisions, including public relations, internal communications, and management. "The first thing you need to do is understand the business model you’re enabling," he said. "Then you can come back to the technology. I always try to remind myself that the only reason we exist is because we add value for our clients."

Raimundo also emphasized the importance of being able to define specifically the cost of media delivery in order to prove to management that it’s the most cost-effective way to communicate internally and externally, adding that Citigroup delivers B2B video at a cost of 83 cents per desktop per year. "That’s the kind of number you need to be able to show. It doesn’t have to be that low, but it has to be that precise."
—Schumacher-Rasmussen