BVE 2015: Are Exhibitions Like This Still Relevant?

It's a valid question. Every year Soho Editors Training, as an exhibitor, commits a lot of time and resources into producing a big theatre/stand at BVE, where we hope to promote our post-production talent agency and our world-class accredited manufacturer training for Apple, Adobe, Avid, Autodesk and Black Magic Design, writes Rory Cantwell, Founder/Trainer/Editor/Colourist at Soho Editors.

Every year, as any good business should, we re-evaluate and assess the 'BVE' opportunity, doing the appropriate due-diligence to see if it is still worth the investment. Last year we broke all attendance records for an individual theatre at the show so rest-assured, this year that decision was a very easy one. We will be at BVE this year even bigger and better than before, featuring and demonstrating the latest hot up-dates of FCP X from Apple and DaVinci Resolve 11 from Black Magic Design, as well as some other technology partners.

In the not-too-distant past, these types of exhibitions were the only environments where a professional creative hardware and software technology purchaser, (the preserve of broadcasters and post-production facilities) would be able to garner the critical information they needed to be able to make good decisions. Yes they could troll around the plethora of manufactures and re-sellers individually but most saved their strategic purchasing decisions up for events like BVE, IBC and NAB, where the process was logistically a lot easier; especially given that such decisions usually required the considered opinions of many key people from both the creative and business sides of the business. All sides would have to reach a consensus on this key decision for their future and exhibitions were one place where all the questions and answers could be brought together and resolved efficiently.

Aware that these events were where the buying decisions were made also drove the manufactures to deliberately store up new releases of technology to coincide with these events, so they would have something to shout about and draw attention to their products. There was a predictability about this patterned behaviour that effectively meant both sides could relax in-between shows, safe in the knowledge that nothing dramatic would happen until the next one.

Now however, we live in an era in which the information required to make these business decisions is instantly available via the internet and where the software manufactures now give away their technology in 'trial' or 'Lite' versions, enabling the potential purchaser to really assess how appropriate the proposed technology is for their particular requirements.

If they are so inclined, the buyer can also attempt to wade through the various on-line training resources available and, if they're lucky enough to find a good one (rare), they might even grasp the basic functionality of these tools as part of their investigation. (Obviously they are better off shot-cutting this pain and enrolling on one of our introduction courses, but that's just my opinion!)

Added to this is the fact that almost all the considered purchases we make these days are invariably informed by a multitude of social media forums and user-groups, where the buyer can be influenced by endorsements and/or critiques, case-studies and peer reviews; something you cannot readily do at an event like BVE.

So, given that there are actually some real disadvantages to stepping away from Google and venturing into the real world of an exhibition, why do these shows still attract vast numbers of professionals, prosumers and amateurs alike to them?

The answer, I believe, is a simple one, but one that goes to the heart of the biggest intrinsic failing of the internet when it comes to buying or selling hardware technology or indeed, sourcing training. You just can't interact with it sufficiently to be able to get enough information to make an informed choice.

No matter how many virtual interactive internet simulations of a camera you might play with on-line, if you are buying a camera, you want to feel its weight, experience first-hand how it performs, get advice from informed experts who have tested it and discover its weaknesses. Likewise, if you need training on an editing package you want the perfect course of learning to compliment your skill-base and experience. Extrapolating further, you would of course ideally want to be able to ask the questions you need an answer too, when you need to ask them. (Not, as happens in many on-line training programs, having to wait passively until that critically empowering answer is dispensed.)

Maybe the reason why our Soho Editors stand at BVE is always so well attended and indeed, why BVE and other events like it, still have a fundamental part to play in our industry, are the same.

The internet isn't very good at delivering bespoke complex solutions for what are invariable, bespoke, complex creative and technical tasks, that fit 'their' specific requirements, empowering them to successfully achieve their creative and technical ambitions. Luckily we and many other exhibitors at the show are, so come along and tell us your problems. Our one reason for being there is to help you solve them.

The article is also available to read in BFV online.

(IT/JP)