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My IBC: Bruce Devlin, SMPTE standards director and founder of Mr MXF Ltd

In a new series of features, Future speaks to a selection of industry stakeholders about their typical IBC routines, and what they're looking forward to at this year's show

What’s your typical IBC routine: what are you there to see/learn, who are you there to meet?

I have three goals at every IBC:

  1. See what’s new and discover trends
  2. Promote a project of some kind 
  3. Network with users, vendors and clients 

Typically the projects I promote will revolve around some standardisation activity or industry initiative to improve interoperability in some area. IBC is key for this because I often stumble across someone I know who is talking to a stranger and it’s the stranger who ends up super interested in the project! This IBC, I’ll be promoting the general transport, identification, registration and processing of production and distribution metadata. I anticipate a lot of stumbling!

What are you most looking forward to at IBC2022? 

I have missed the lucky accidents of bumping into people doing truly awesome projects. In years gone by, I’ve encountered gems of start-ups like GlobalM or key business trends from IABM or key technology trends from SMPTE or helped start new projects within the IMF User Group. Having groups of like-minded people in the same physical space, opening their minds to the opportunities and benefits of changing the way we work is a key IBC take-home for me.

Why is IBC important to you/your members in a professional capacity, and how does the show compare to others on the calendar?

IBC is important for SMPTE because it attracts a more global, diverse group of users than, say, NAB. Entertainment has strong cultural roots in national and regional communities, and I feel that IBC helps focus technologists’ minds on global solutions that can be localised for users. SMPTE is working hard on its diversity and inclusion activities and IBC is just the place to gather feedback on how we’re doing.