The SVG Summit:CONNECT Day Ahead – Day 1 Features NBA, NHL Conversations and National Networks Town Hall

Roundtables will address Digital Content and Social Media Production, Cloud-Based Production, Content Management, and College Sports

Good morning! Here’s your daily dose of “Day Ahead” for the SVG Summit:CONNECT, and Day One offers stimulating sessions you will not want to miss.

The centerpiece of the day will be the National Networks Town Hall (12:15 p.m. ET). If you have been wondering how the pandemic has changed sports production, possibly forever, this session is for you.

Two great league conversations bookend the Town Hall. The day will start with execs involved in NBA production, and they will discuss the efforts and plans for the season that starts next week.

The day’s offerings will also include an in-depth chat with three key NHL executives. Beginning at 1:15 p.m., it’s a don’t-miss session.

If you’re interested in taking a deeper dive into specific topics, the afternoon is packed with four virtual roundtables – addressing Digital Content and Social Media Production, Cloud-Based Production, Sports Content Management, and College Sports – beginning at 2 p.m. and 3:30 p.m. ET.

Oh, and be sure to join us at 5 p.m. for a presentation by Devoncroft Partners’ Josh Stinehour. His analysis of the financial opportunities and challenges in the sports-production market is a highlight of nearly every event he has done with us!

And make sure to check out Tech Tour TV for a look at all the latest products and technology from top vendors in the industry.

Check out Monday’s full agenda below and if you have not registered for the Summit, please click here to register. To check out all the sessions, click here.

11:00 – 11:15 a.m.: Event Opens

11:15 – 11:30 a.m.: Welcoming Remarks and SVG Connect Summit 101

11:30 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.: THE CONVERSATION: Inside the NBA 2020
Sponsored by Microsoft
Those involved with getting the NBA back in action discuss the production workflows, health and safety protocols, technology innovation, and more during this lively 30-minute live session.
Moderator: Steve Hellmuth, NBA Entertainment, EVP, Media Operations and Technology
Panelists:
Chris Brown, Turner Sports, VP, Operations and Technology
Tim Corrigan, ESPN, Senior Coordinating Producer
Eddie Okuno, ESPN, Senior Remote Operations Specialist; ABC, NBA on ESPN

12:00 – 12:15 p.m.: EVS Case Study: Fox Sports Gears Up for the Future of Live Production with EVS
Presented by EVS
In this session, Fox Sports’ Mike Davies provides insights into how his team is gearing up to drive the future of live production. He explains how the organization’s ongoing investments in EVS VIA technologies are helping them increase the performance and value of their live productions. He also reveals how Fox Sports is overcoming the challenges brought on by the pandemic thanks to these technologies and how they are currently being used in the Fox Sports Vault – one of the most notable remote-production projects the industry has seen yet that allows over 30 operators including LSM-VIA operators to perform their tasks sometimes thousands of miles away from the event site. Davies provides details on this innovative at-home operational center and tells us what this implies for the future.
Speakers:
Kevin Callahan, Fox Sports, VP, Field Operations and Engineering
Mike Davies, Fox Sports, SVP, Technical and Field Operations
David Pinkel, EVS, VP, Key Accounts, the Americas

12:15 – 1:00 p.m.: The National Network Town Hall
This live town hall will feature top production executives from the national networks discussing their operations in the time of COVID-19. Learn about their successes, their failures, and how 2020 has re-shaped their production philosophies and strategies.
Moderator: Jason Cohen, CBS Sports and CBS Sports Network, VP, Remote Technical Operations
Panelists:
Chris Brown, Turner Sports, VP, Operations and Technology
Mike Davies, Fox Sports, SVP, Technical and Field Operations; SVG Chairman
David Mazza, NBC Sports Group and NBC Olympics, SVP and CTO
Patty Power, CBS Sports, EVP, Operations and Engineering

1:00 – 1:15 p.m.: Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation Partnership
Speakers: Ken Kerschbaumer, SVG, Executive Director, Editorial
Geoff Mason, Sports Broadcasting Hall of Famer and Industry Consultant
Moira McGinley, Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation, VP for Development / Chief Development Officer

1:15 – 1:45 p.m.: THE CONVERSATION: Inside the NHL 2020
The NHL headed North to Canada in order to complete the 2020 schedule and the effort involved two arenas, numerous production entities, and more. Go inside one of the more unique “bubble” productions with executives involved with the project.
Moderator: Brandon Costa, SVG, Director of Digital
Panelists:
Ivan Gottesfeld, NHL, Executive Vice President, Broadcasting
Steve Mayer, NHL, Senior Executive Vice President and Chief Content Officer
Dan O’Neill, NHL, Vice President, Arena and Event Operations

2:00 – 3:15 p.m.: Roundtable: Digital Content and Social Media Production
Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, fans were stuck at home and unable to enjoy an in-person game-day experience. As most venues around the country await the return of patrons, the main conduit between teams and their loyal fanbases has been the digital space. In this roundtable, professionals from different leagues explain how their production team is developing digital-first content and live streams and how avenues like mobile apps, team websites, and social-media platforms are uniting fans while remaining apart.

2:00 – 3:15 p.m.: Roundtable: Cloud-Based Production
Sponsored by Grass Valley, Microsoft, and The Switch
The Cloud-Based Production roundtable will provide insight into how the cloud, virtualization, and SaaS are dramatically transforming the entire video-production ecosystem. Sports-production leaders will discuss how the rise of remote workflows and virtualized infrastructure as a result of the pandemic is making cloud-based production more relevant than ever today and what it means for tomorrow.

3:30 – 4:45 p.m.: Roundtable: College Sports
Following a year of tremendous uncertainty, live-video-production professionals on college campuses across the country are getting back to work. Whether it’s producing for in-venue videoboards or live-streaming games for fans to consume at home or on the go, new and re-imagined workflows are being deployed to safely and efficient feed the content beast. Join the SVG College community to discuss topics ranging from live-production tools to automated production to student training and beyond.

3:30 – 4:45 p.m.: Roundtable: Sports Content Management
Sponsored by CatDV, Iron Mountain Entertainment Services, Nutanix
The Sports Content Management Roundtable is designed for SVG members and sponsors looking to learn about the latest developments in MAM workflows, archive/storage technology, and metadata management. The conversation will feature MAM leaders from major broadcasters, leagues, teams, and vendors providing insights on how the industry has reacted to the pandemic and how it’s changing content-management workflows. This is a can’t-miss conversation for anyone looking to stay up-to-date on the latest developments in the MAM and storage sector and what is coming in the future.