The East Tennessee Television and Film Commission’s tradeshow on April 29th was a tremendous success. Nearly 500 people attended the event held at downtown Knoxville’s Crowne Plaza.
“Many of the vendors came to us and asked, ‘When is your next trade show?’” says ETTFC Director Michael Barnes. “That tells that the people who attended the event were very pleased with what they saw.”
Vendors such as Panasonic, Sony, Fujinon, Canon, Yamaha, Sennheiser, Avid, and Apple were in attendance. Numerous latest-and-greatest items from each company were showcased for attendees. Many products were available for hands-on use. The tradeshow also featured four workshops and a seminar-lunch for attendees.
“Every classroom was full and the lunch was full,” says Thomas Duncan, ETTFC location assistant.
Larry Thorpe, marketing executive of Canon USA Inc.’s broadcast and communications division, presented the “Camera Lenses” workshop that featured extensive technical information about different lenses and their capabilities. Chris Henson, district manager for Yamaha Southeast, presented the “Digital Audio” workshop that was designed to help attendees understand the major differences between analog and digital audio. Cobblestone Entertainment President Tom Baker and Digital Media One President Mark Larsen presented “In Search of Other Markets”, a class designed to educate about diversification and reaching into markets beyond video production. Filmmakers Keith McDaniel and Russell Hooper, and Russell Emanuel, a Los Angeles-based writer and director presented “Funding Your Idea” to help those in search of funding or other resources for projects they want to start. Each workshop featured discussion sessions and question-and-answer periods.
Peter Clem, vice president of broadband programming and production for Scripps Networks, was the keynote speaker. His lunchtime presentation, “Producing for the Web and Beyond,” focused on the unique aspects of internet production.
“Peter showed many of the models that are used in monetization of web content,” Barnes says. “He is illustration of Scripps Networks’ vision of web production was informative for everyone in attendance.”
Barnes was particularly grateful for the assistance of the East Tennessee Television and Film Commission board of directors, notably Danny Harb (president, HP Video) and David Metz (senior vice president, Scripps Networks).
“I think it says a lot about the people we have on our board and the leadership of the film commission,” says Barnes. “We had a really good representation of all the organizations, companies, and individuals in attendance at the tradeshow.”
The ETTFC feels the tradeshow and workshops reflected, from an economic standpoint, what is occurring in the local production community: an increasing desire for information from those looking to help themselves.
“This was the ETTFC testing the waters to see if this kind of thing would work here and we found out there is truly a demand,” says Barnes. “We look forward to doing this again.”
