Mobile Engineering Workshop Dives Deep Into Truck Design, Safety

Next Monday, the Sports Video Group 2008 League Technology Summit kicks off with a four-hour workshop that will dive deep into the future of sports-production truck design as well as live-production safety and a White Space update.

Sponsored by Filmwerks International, Thomson Grass Valley, and Sony, the Workshop is open to all registered Summit attendees.

“By expanding this year’s Summit to Monday, we ensure that attendees get more value out of the conference and, more important, have more opportunities to learn about how they should adjust their business to meet current and future economic realities,” says Ken Kerschbaumer, SVG Editorial Director. “The workshop will be a lively, free-wheeling, and informative discussion, and we’re already it expecting it to be a highlight of our Summit and HOF activities.” To register for this year’s conference, click here.
Mobile Engineering Workshop

SESSION ONE

1:00-1:30 p.m.

Safety First: Introducing the Sports Production Safety Group

Formed in May by leading sports networks and the Sports Video Group, the Sports Production Safety Group aims to promulgate health and safety best practices and training programs through industry consensus. Executives from ABC, CBS, ESPN, Fox, NBC Universal, and SVG take to the stage for a 30-minute overview of this important industry initiative.

Moderated by: Ken Kerschbaumer, SVG, Editorial Director

Featuring:

Rob Bee, ESPN, Director, Safety and Health

Jason King,

EHS,

Director, NBC Universal

Joe Mannetta,

Walt Disney Co./ABC,

Director of Loss Prevention and Business Continuity Planning

Rodney North, CBS Sports, Manager, Environmental, Health and Safety

Ron Partilla

CSP
, Fox Networks Group, Director, Production Safety

SESSION TWO

1:30-4:30

Mobile Engineering Workshop

This year’s Mobile Engineering Workshop dives into a timely and relevant topic: designing and building cost-effective production trucks for mid-level sporting events. With networks stretching production dollars and staff further than ever, their remote production partners are under increasing pressure to respond in kind.

Moderators:

Jerry Gepner, Vitec, CTO

Ken Kerschbaumer, SVG, Editorial Director

Featuring:

Ken Aagaard, CBS Sports, EVP, Operations and Production Services

Steve Cozort, ESPN, Regional Senior Director of Remote Operations

Ed Delaney, YES Network, VP, Operations

Phil Garvin, Mobile TV Group, General Manager and Co-Owner

Steve Hellmuth, NBA, EVP, Operations and Technology

George Hoover, NEP, SVP of Engineering

Barry Johnstone, Euro Media Group, COO

The workshop is broken into three parts:

1:45-2:30

Part One: Defining the “Mid-Level” Production Truck, Economic Drivers, and Current Approaches

What exactly is a mid-level truck? What events will it cover, and how will it be staffed? What are the economic drivers behind the need? Companies like Mobile TV Group are already packing more-powerful trucks into less space. What is the current state of mid-level truck design? What are the strengths of the designs, and how can they be improved?

2:30-2:45: Break, sponsored by Filmwerks International, Thomson Grass Valley
, and Sony

2:45-3:45: Part Two: The Mid-Level Truck of the Future: Form Factor and Technology

The basic form factor of a production truck has not changed in more than 30 years. Is it time for production-truck design to undergo radical transformations to reflect IT-based technologies and file-based workflows? Is surround sound part of the equation? How about 1080p?

3:45-4:00: Break, sponsored by Filmwerks International, Thomson Grass Valley
, and Sony

4:00-4:30: Part Three: Mid-Level Workflow and Staffing Issues

New mid-level truck designs also mean new changes to personnel and their responsibilities. How will new designs impact the front bench? Will production crews need to learn new skills?

4:30-4:45

White Space Update