Introduction

If you weren’t at the Queen Elizabeth II conference centre attending the 4th Event Cinema Association conference, then you really missed out. Having been to the majority of the previous ones I can say without a doubt that this was definitely the best one yet with a real sense of maturity. In fact, as I sat in the main auditorium it did feel very much like a large family.

 

Previously the conference had been held within a cinema and while there was a moment of disappointment about the move of venue to a proper conference centre it really made all of the difference when it comes to the very important social aspects of the day. The other advantage of the change to the conference centre was the ability to change the layout of the room to include cabaret-style seating.

Plenty of Networking

One of the key parts of the ECA Conferences that has previously been very successful are the number of networking opportunities throughout the day. This means there are no end of opportunities to meet delegates old and new. I met a wide range of new people working on a variety of interesting projects within the event cinema space.

Sessions

The sessions throughout the day were always highly informative and engaging. The first session entitled ‘Pushing the Boundaries’ by Mike Gubbins, SampoMedia was a very useful overview of where Event Cinema has gone over the last few years. It included a section on the very ambitious project entitled ‘Lost in London‘.

 

One of the most talked about breakout sessions was given by Ben Rapp from Managed Networks on ‘Cyber Security and Your Business’. This was one of the most informative sessions of the day talking about the number of companies that have cyber attacks (and other sorts), along with some very practical pieces of advice on the subject. Ben also highlights the changes that were going to affect us all as a result of the European Data Protection Act that comes into force from May 2018.

 

During the lunchtime apart from the opportunity for more networking, there were 6 different surgeries being run by experts in the field (Legal, Public Relations, Recruitment, Technical, Social media, and Business Funding).

Unfortunately one of the sessions that was likely to draw the largest audiences on Event Cinema Data was not able to happen due to illness, but instead, the other sessions ended up with a larger audience.

Awards

The annual award ceremony is always following the lunch break and provides an opportunity to celebrate the achievements from across the sector. It is always hosted by a professional celebratory and this year it was Nick Wallis, BBC’s One Show. A full list of the award winners along with videos and photographs are available on the ECA website.

Product Launch

Unique Digital one of the sponsors of the event took the opportunity to promote the launch of a new product called ‘RosettaLive’ that is designed to revolutionise the Event Cinema industry by allowing for the delivery of content via broadband rather than satellite. More information is available from http://www.uniquedigitalcinema.com/rosettalive.

 

 

Setup in the main networking space were a number of different companies offering further information. 

Conclusion

 

This was by far the best conference so far and all the hard work for the ECA really pulled off to produce a fantastic event that showed off the sector whilst also providing plenty of information and knowledge sharing. I came away having made a number of new contacts as I am sure many others did too. I am sure that everyone is already looking forward to the 2018 one, and you should make sure that you don’t miss it.

Further Information

Further information on the day including biographies on all the different speakers is available from www.eventcinemaassociation.org/ecacon2017