SVG IBC Party a Rip-Roarin’ Good Time as BOB Takes Home The Prize!

Last weekend SVG held its third-annual Sport Technology reception at IBC, and, once again, all had a great time. Sponsored by Chyron, Linear Acoustic, SES Americom, and SOS Global, the party drew more than 200 SVG vendors and members, gathering to catch up on the latest news and gossip and also to honor Beijing Olympic Broadcasting (BOB) and all of the vendors who made the Summer Games a smashing hit around the world. While the folks from BOB couldn’t join us (the Paralympics are still ongoing), they did provide us with some statements they wanted to make to the community. To print out the commemorative program click here.

First up are the reflections from Sotiris Salamouris, who heads up engineering for BOB and says that things in Beijing are going “boringly well” always a good sign!

“I would like to thank SVG for the honour of this award,” he said. “I consider this award as a recognition of the collective work of the engineering team of Beijing Olympic Broadcasting, a diverse and vibrant group of people from more than 15 countries that worked together for months and years with that same goal in mind: the best broadcast possible for the Beijing Games. It has been a challenging work with many firsts: first Olympics in full HDTV, full 5.1 surround-sound audio, virtual enhancement in HDTV by the host broadcaster, central HDTV server in the IBC, HD RF coverage in all outside races with no helis, high-motion cameras in multiple sports, etc.

It would be impossible to achieve any of these objectives without the strong support from the international broadcast industry, vendors, and service providers from all over the world that contributed with their expertise, resources, and hard work. Our many thanks to all these significant partners. But above all, I would like to thank the Chinese people in Beijing and the other Olympic cities that embraced the Olympics as their own cause and provided us with all the necessary support, needed and appreciated in all the phases of this big and exciting project.”

Manolo Romero, GM of BOB and the veritable godfather of Olympic broadcasts, added, “On behalf of BOB and OBS, I wanted to thank all of the equipment suppliers, vendors, and personnel who worked tirelessly for months to help make the 2008 Beijing Olympics a truly outstanding technical achievement. The 2008 Summer Games will be remembered as a technical landmark for delivering countless hours of content to viewers around the world via HDTV and the Internet. Without the hard work of our vendors, this would not have been possible. and we look forward to working with you again in Vancouver in a little more than 15 months.”

So with year three down, it’s time to start thinking of who will earn the honor next year!