LONDON—More than 20,000 people attended the first week of programming of the all-virtual IBC Showcase, which ran from Sept. 8-11, according to IBC.
The virtual sessions, which were a substitute for the physical IBC conference in Amsterdam because of the COVID-19 pandemic, supported more than 1,000 exhibitors and, per IBC, directly generated more than 8,000 leads through live exhibitor presentations and workflow tours. In addition, visitors came from 120 countries, with a third occupying the C-suite, VP, EVP and director levels at their companies.
In addition, the IBC Showcase offered the IBC 2020 Accelerators program, which brought together 62 organizations to collaborate on business and technology opportunities. Eight R&D projects have been unveiled as a result, including a live 5G remote production, an interactive music talent show, AI-assisted shot list creation and streamlined animation production.
The IBC Showcase isn’t finished though, as IBC plans to run programming throughout the rest of 2020. Under the theme of “Empowering Content Everywhere,” the next three sessions are scheduled for Oct. 8, 15 and 22 and will bring together representatives from Comcast, Fastly, Gracenote and Vast Data to deliver insight and debate on key industry topics and trends.
“IBC was created to help the industry connect, collaborate, share ideas and drive sales. This is at the heart of our continuing commitment to the industry, now delivered through a hybrid of live and virtual events,” said Michael Crimp, chief executive of IBC. “We will continue to evolve our virtual offering and I am excited that IBC Showcase will be an ongoing platform, building on the success of the opening week.”
Beyond this year, plans are to have IBC 2021 return to a physical conference, and IBC reports that bookings are on pace with previous years, as 50% of space is expected to be reserved by the end of September. IBC has also announced that its Early Bird booking rate for IBC 2021 is being extended to Sept. 30.
For more information, visit IBC’s website.
