News and Notes from BroadcastAsia2008 : 20 June 2008

A welcome break for BCA Participants

The Singapore Business Partners Night was a welcome respite for international media executives, who expressed satisfaction at what their firms had accomplished at BCA.

The French kiosk had bottles of wine, while the Italians dispensed espresso and handed out umbrellas and USB flash drives with their literature.

The Singapore Business Partners Night, held at Mohamad Sultan Road on 19 June, was a casual, social affair. The networking event used a new format, with partner countries like Canada and the UK as well as the Centre for Content Protection and the Singapore Infocomm Technology Federation (SiTF) operating kiosks.

“Guests have also been matched to facilitate your conversations with each other so that you have a more meaningful evening here. So while you enjoy the food and wine, do take time to explore potential opportunities,” said Dr Christopher Chia, Chief Executive Officer, MDA, as he delivered his opening speech. “I hope tonight is a welcome respite for those of you who have been busy at BroadcastAsia the last few days.”

Indeed it was. “Now, it’s time for fun,” said Mr Ilan Ofek, Founder and Director, Visual Factory, who had brought his six-month old start-up to BroadcastAsia for the first time. The Singapore firm was impressed with the level of professionalism, the number of serious applications presented and people interested in its 3D software kits, applications and modeling services.

Mr Michael Weldon, Regional Sales Manager, Trend Communications, which supplies communications testing equipment, said: “The international contacts that we made were excellent, especially potential new distributors and customers. If you try to get to these people outside this event, it would be impossible.”

Likewise, Ms Lina Kim, Business Development Manager, Big Communications, which participated in BroadcastAsia, agreed that the event was a good place at which to network. “We have good opportunities in the future with overseas companies.”

Dr Chia was already looking forward to the 3DX Festival in November, and the seventh Asia Media Festival, which will be hosted by MDA in December. The 3DX Festival will be the first fully 3D festival in the world, which will also give players in the industry a chance to interact, experiment and develop technologies and content as well as learn from the best in the field.

For latest updates on the media industry, log on to www.smf.sg

To read archives, please click here.