For the fifth consecutive year, attendees came out in record numbers to support the annual Government Video Technology Expo, a two-day event held last month at the Washington DC Convention Center.
Though a dense snowfall blanketed the nations capital on the shows second day, overall show attendance jumped 11 percent over GV Expo 2001 numbers, while workshop participation improved by 15 percent. The record-high 272 exhibitors displaying everything from lighting instruments to microphones to camcorders stretched across 9,500 square feet of exhibit floor space to welcome more than 7,100 attendees.
Exhibitors reported that a steady flow of attendees created a bustling show floor. We noticed an increased number of commercial design and manufacturing attendees this year, observed Karl Kuhn, applications engineer for Tektronix. Doug Donohoe of Anvil/Calzone Cases reported his company made plenty of contacts at the show.
Rhea Mettell, manager of Avids Government Solutions, said the companys booth had excellent floor traffic on the first day of the show. And despite the snowstorm, she added, the prospects who attended on Thursday appeared to be serious buyers. GV Expo 2002 proved to be a superior networking venue for Avid as well, noted Mettell.
Avid Xpress DV seems to be unlocking some great new markets for us given its functionality and lower price point, she explained. We also continue to see interest in the mobile editing solutions from Ocean Systems.
Additionally, the most exciting opportunities for Avid at GV Expo continue to be the major government agencies who attend the show looking for enterprise-wide networking and storage solutions. We always look forward to GV Expo, Mettell said, since its the only national show that brings our government buyers together in one venue.
Shining Stars
To kick start the first day of GV Expo, attendees packed a conference room to see the 2nd annual Government Video Star Awards ceremony. This year, the awards included competitive categories for training, promotional, and news/information videos.
Nine government agencies were chosen as winners, including the San Jose Police Department, which had attendees chuckling at its video that used humor to show the correct way to handle a firearm. Delighted with his win, Rick Menze of the San Jose Police Department said receiving his GV Expo Star Award was an exciting honor. (Read about all the winning videos on page 38.)
An individual, non-competitive award was given to FBI Special Agent Rick Rasmussen for his work preceding the Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, UT. Rasmussen led a program that compiled all the surveillance cameras in and around the Olympic-related areas, which could be used to locate cameras that might have recorded potential suspects.
The awards ceremony was followed with a keynote address by decorated combat veteran General Henry Hugh Shelton, who served two terms as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. After praising the Star Awards winners, Shelton spoke of the war on terrorism and the importance of video in the fight against this war.
The war on terrorism is a vitally important war for America to win, he said. The best defense is a good offense. He also called video a great application in the war on terrorism. Video has some real applications, from facial recognition all the way to forensics. Information is one of the key elements of power, he added.
Educating Attendees
Video security cameras are becoming more and more prolific in our society, and forensic video analysis is also gaining popularity. Grant Fredericks, manager of Avids Forensic Video Solutions, had plenty of footage to use during a conference session on forensic video analysis. Theres a lot of video out there, so were able to demonstrate advanced processes and newly-developed processes with new media, he said.
One of dozens of speakers that discussed a variety of technology-related issues, Fredericks noted many new faces in his audience. This group is different, he explained. These are people who arent used to forensics but who do video for government agencies and who are sometimes asked if they can do something forensically with a tape or a particular criminal investigation.
Fredericks, who led the forensic video session for the fifth consecutive year, said he changes his presentation each year based on his audience and whats hot in the industry. I have a lot to work with, so it always looks like a new presentation, he said.
Steven Vincent, a first-time GV Expo attendee who plans to return next year, said he attended the DV Production Master Workshop to learn the tips and tricks for DV production, which I did. Designed to help attendees improve their productions, the workshop discussed specialty lenses, lighting techniques, audio, and camera settings.
As more and more educators must cope with the changing technological landscape in their facilities, its no surprise that the Technology in the Classroom seminar, moderated by Government Video Lesson Plans columnist Nancy Caronia (see page 14), was well attended.
Carolyn Person, director of e-learning at Southern University, found the seminar particularly useful for her line of work. Im implementing a distance learning model at the university, she said. Part of this session reinforced what were trying to do. Now I can go back to my administrator and tell him were on track.
Debbie Rivenburg, an operations consultant for the Florida Department of Revenue, took interest in the Post Production Strategies track, specifically the presentation from VITACs Heather York on closed captioning. I wasnt aware of the government requirement for closed-captioning, so that was very useful, she said. Although we are not currently doing video production, we hope to start it up again and provide closed captioning for hearing-impaired employees.
Additionally, streaming media has become a rapidly growing trend in the public sector, reported presenter Phil Livingston, vice president and technical liaison for Panasonic. The interest in streaming media and the [quick] adoption of streaming media in the corporate world was fascinating to me, he said. Its moving forward so fast.
On the show floor, at the Future Media Concepts booth, attendees received some hands-on training in Adobe, Xpress DV, and Final Cut Pro. Kevin Oleksy, production supervisor for the Technology Services Unit of the FBI Academy in Quantico, VA, said he goes to many industry trade shows, including NAB, and nowhere else has he gotten training of this caliber. He also liked the one-on-one attention he got at GV Expo, and was impressed with the amount of government representation at the show.
MORE INFO
Adobe Systems
(408) 536-6000
www.adobe.com
Anvil/Calzone Cases
(203) 367-5766
www.anvilcase.com
Avid
(800) 859-2843
www.avid.com
Future Media Concepts
(202) 429-9700
www.fmctraining.com
GV Expo
(800) 294-7605
www.gvexpo.com
JVC
(973) 317-5000
www.jvc.com/pro
Panasonic
(800) 528-8601
www.panasonic.com/broadcast
Spider Support Systems
(703) 758-0669
www.spidersupport.com
VITAC
(800) 278-4822
www.vitac.com
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