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The economy of the past few years has caused many businesses to take a hard look at overall expenses and eliminate costs that they can survive without. Insurance premiums might seem like an easy expense to skip temporarily, but the risks heavily outweigh the monetary savings, said Scott Carroll, vice president and program director for Take 1 Insurance, U.S. Risk Insurance Group’s entertainment division. “You’ve got to step back and think, ‘Can I afford the risk of not having insurance’ in that situation that you can’t imagine what it might be,” he explained. “If you don’t have insurance and the bottom falls out, could you lose your company?”

This year Take 1 is celebrating its 15th year of service to the entertainment industry at large and 15 years of serving as the exclusive endorsed insurance provider for InfoComm members. While most insurance programs typically start without first consulting those who will be using it, Take 1 was developed with the industry in mind. “This program started by finding out what the constituency needed first, and then we built the program around it,” Carroll said. “It’s highly focused on members of the audiovisual communications industry, with a great emphasis on InfoComm members.”

In addition to knowing the particular needs of the AV community, Take 1 knows that businesses have been struggling. Carroll explained that reaching out to your insurance agent to explore various options is better than skipping out on insurance. “You can always talk to your insurance agent to try and come up with different solutions,” he said. “Every insurance company understands what is going on with the economy, and every insurance company is attempting to make sure they take a hard look at what that insured needs, and the rates that are being charged, and they try to work with that insured.” For instance, Take 1 offers a direct bill paying installment plan that is worked out over a 10-payment period. Also recently announced is a benefit to InfoComm members who purchase a Take 1 inland marine and/or general liability policy. InfoComm members will automatically receive a 5 percent discount off the normal policy rates, and members can then earn up to an additional 20 percent discount upon receiving their CTS certification.

Besides discounts, the return on investment incentives provided by a comprehensive insurance package should be considered. “Really take a look and determine if this is what you need to get a better job, to get work that if you didn’t have the insurance, you couldn’t qualify for,” explained Carroll. “Yes it’s a cost of doing business in the beginning, but it might pay off down the road.”

As Take 1 continues its relationship with InfoComm, which has branches around the world, it is looking into expanding its product internationally. “We know many of our clients have international connections, that some have locations in other countries—Canada is a great example—and we try to help our insureds who also have those international exposures,” said Carroll. Take 1 is currently working on a program for the international members of InfoComm, specifically focusing on the European Union and Australia, but hopes to expand to all the countries that InfoComm services. “We’re attempting to grow the way we see the industry growing,” said Carroll.

Now that HDTV transition is complete (well, almost), broadcasters are looking for new ground to break. And they may have found it in 3DTV. This theme, was probably the biggest “news” coming from NAB last week in Vegas.
3D was all the buzz at NAB. There were a variety of 3D demos all over the show floor, and in the NAB “Content Theater”, it seems most of the panel discussions focused on 3D production.
At Monday's Pixar Animation Studios Case Study at the Content Theater, the company focused on stereoscopic production and presentation.
The packed event, sponsored by Sony and RealD's 4K 3D projection system, offered glimpses of Pixar's first experiments with 3D, included re-created scenes from "Toy Story" and "Ratatouille," adding new 3D effects as well as extended sequences from Pixar's upcoming stereoscopic release, "Up."
Bob Whitehill, stereoscopic supervisor, and Josh Hollander, director of stereoscopic production, shared some of preparation for the May 29 release of "Up" and the Oct. 2 premiere of the stereoscopic versions of "Toy Story" and "Toy Story 2."
Filmmaker brothers Jean-Jacques and Francois Mantello presided at another panel in the Content Theater, and showed clips from their "Oceans 3D: Into the Deep," which was shot digitally in 3D.
Francois Mantello said that today his son won't watch movies that are in black and white. "I look forward to the day when my son's son won't watch anything unless it's in 3D." Indeed.
Of course, all that production talk is Hollywood at its best, always trying to push the envelope and devise new ways to bring audiences into the theater. But it may leave those on the AV side of the fence wondering whether 3D is going to have a significant impact anywhere but the movie theater.
The answer to that is yes. Look for 3D to be the HD of 2010 and beyond.
At the Monday Super Session at NAB, "Alternative Stereoscopic 3D Content: The Next Breakout Hit?" some key players who are putting 3DTV into practice talked about the future of 3D. Jonathan Dern, president of Cinedigm Content and Entertainment Group; Steve Hellmuth, executive vice president of operations and technology for NBA Entertainment; José Dias, director of research & development at TV Globo in Brazil; John Rubey, president of AEG Network LIVE; and Gerry O'Sullivan, director of strategic product development for BSkyB… all talked about creative use of 3D content to bring a new kind of experience to the conusumer. As an example, O'Sullivan showed clips from a ballet and a live performance by British pop-rock group Keane at Abbey Road Studios that was simultaneously beamed to the Web and select theaters in London. "With the Keane performance, 60,000 kids downloaded instructions to make their own 3D glasses," O'Sullivan said.
On Thursday and Friday, May 7-8, Insight Media will host a webinar to review the 3D news and take aways from NAB. (for info: dian@insightmedia.info )… should be interesting.

There’s been a flurry of early spring activity in the industry, starting off with a Barco Rental partner meeting in Colorado in mid-March, and then the first Rental Staging Roadshow of 09, in Orlando on March 25th. And, oh yes, in-between,  Electrograph’s  DTE (Digital Technology Experience) event in Dallas on March 24th.
At the Barco event, some of the country’s top stagers gathered to see the latest from the company that now includes not just high lumen video projectors and LED units, but now of course with Barco’s acquisition of High End Systems–lighting as well. Or best said: lighting, and lighting/video hybrid devices.
But it’s easy to get ahead of my self here. In this crazy year, it’s hard to sort out the business marketing challenges, from the technical product evolution. What’s being rolled out when, why, and how?  Are new product rollouts going full steam ahead, in this recession year? Is the demand there, as well as the supply?
Oddly enough, from the three seemingly unrelated events I attended in the space of three weeks, there was a lot of overlap in themes.
It’s no secret the big marketing wars, in the video projection market, are taking place in the mid-lumen range, let’s say from 8-12K lumens. This is where most of the cap ex spending will take place this year, because this is the main area where new products–significantly new products with some combination of price break and new features–are being introduced. On the low lumen end, and on the high lumen end, there is always new product, but not a lot has changed this year on those ends of the spectrum (OK, hold your fire…in high lumen video projection, 3D is up and coming. And in low-lumen range, single-chip DLP keeps getting better.). Back to the chase… in the fixed install market, the new kid on the block is WUXGA (16x10). WUXGA has been in the wings for several years, and the demand has been growing, because this is of course the format of most new PC’s. So look to most major projector manufacturers to bring out new WUXGA units this year. (Canon, who was one of the first to introduce WUXGA a couple years ago, raised eyebrows at that time, because: Canon had not much been in the commercial projector space, and at that time 1080P was all the rage.)
For Barco’s part, they are banking a lot on their CLM series of projectors. The CLM is Barco’s answer in the mid-lumen market. It puts out 8K lumens, with a single-chip DLP light engine, not an easy feat. It accomplishes this by having a pretty sizable white segment on the color wheel. But it also has a feature where by the user can “dial out” the white segment to get back to more saturated color (and slightly fewer lumens). Also, note that the CLM can be controlled by DMX. Yes, LD’s are controlling video projectors. Get over it. While LD’s won’t completely take over the realm of AV in staging, it’s inevitable that the two worlds are now joined at the hip.

I attended the Barco Rental Partner meeting in Colorado this past week, and the issue surrounding U.S. government TARP money, came up in one of the presentations. There is nothing in the actual TARP legislation that prevents any company getting TARP money from spending on corporate meetings, events, etc. It's really more a matter of public mood, mass media coverage, and cost cutbacks, and how corporate policy is reflecting that.
But lobbying on this issue is still essential, because of the Kerry initiative, that trys to put more teeth into some kind of "no lavish meetings" policy. We strongly suggest that everyone in this industry, email their representatives in congress, and convey the message that the meetings industry is vital to our economy, spinning off many jobs, and it is not a luxury !
Click on the link below and email your senators and congressmen and women:

Email your Congressperson here

This is great news for a Friday the 13th. After much wailing and gnashing of teeth by the travel and business meetings industry - several top executives got an audience with President Obama. It seems the President listened and understood. See this news story:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/29667132/

A few poorly placed words by Obama fueled already aggressive media hype and uninformed lawmaker's grandstanding against incentive and business meetings. The combined result has been devastating to destinations like Las Vegas and Orlando and all the millions of workers that support meetings and live events. Today's announcement won't change things overnight, but I hope that the many companies that have canceled meetings and other events will revisit those plans.

Tom Stimson

The Stimson Group

Meetings Industry Crisis
Big companies are running scared from business meetings that involve travel to popular meeting destinations. The Events Industry seems to be hurt more by this trend than the economic downturn itself. The media has taken aim at federal bailout recipients in the financial services, banking and insurance industries and lambasted them for executive travel. Granted, some of these executives seem to be insensitive dolts. Scheduling luxury travel right now as an executive perk – even if a meeting is involved – is simply bad form. Unfortunately for those of us in the meetings business, this criticism of pointless junkets has transferred to plain ‘ol business meetings and incentive trips.

At the center of this controversy is a well-publicized series of Wells Fargo events in Las Vegas that have since been canceled. These were employee recognition events that like most incentive trips – include a fair amount of meeting time. Wells Fargo chose the Wynn Resort and Mandalay Bay as the locations. These are top of the line Vegas hotels, but in 2009 I bet you would pay less to stay at the Wynn than a Residence Inn in Kansas City. Wells Fargo has tried to defend its position by placing a full-page ad in the NY Times. [see image file] Everyone from Jon Stewart, The Daily Show to meeting industry advocates, lambasted this letter for missing the point. We do not need meetings to feed the “little people” that clean rooms and bus tables. We need meetings to do business.  In spite of Wells Fargo’s ineffective attempt to defend their need to meet, industry pundits from across the spectrum have taken stock and are responding:

Tom Brown is a commentator for Bank Stocks Today. His column made some great points in defense of corporations that meet effectively.

Bruce MacMillian, President and CEO of Meeting Professionals International blogged on the MPI website. 

My good friend Floyd Dillman, Event Engineering, Chicago has single-handedly informed thousands of contacts about this issue and provided some compelling calls to action via email:
“Is there an acceptable level of government and media meddling in our industry? Are we OK with all of our clients coming under the microscope for whatever decisions they might make to engage our services in pursuit of greater sales and productivity? And what about the loss of jobs in our industry every time the media chooses to lynch a client?"

Examples:
http://apnews.myway.com/article/20090203/D964CPCG1.html
http://abcnews.go.com/Business/Economy/wireStory?id=6796649

"We can no longer sit on the sidelines because this has not happened to us yet. A carefully coordinated industry response must be crafted to both defend those companies who choose to hold conferences and incentive events, and to support the large and diverse segments of the economy who depend on the business travel and meeting businesses for their livelihood."

The impact of these cancellations and others like it is a result of this media frenzy that has severely hurt a lot of people you know. It will reach all of us sooner than you think. I encourage you to blog, post, and otherwise defend our livelihoods from these uninformed attacks. You can start by signing this online petition: http://www.keepamericameeting.org/
I also look forward to hearing about your creative efforts to raise awareness with end-clients.

Tom Stimson CTS
The Stimson Group
tom@trstimson.com
Subscribe to Tom’s monthly business newsletter at:
http://www.trstimson.com/files/NewsLetter.html

I am sure everyone understands that no one can carve a forecast for our economy in stone and expect it to come to fruition.  The best we can hope for is that analyzing the data, mood, and optimism (or pessimism) will yield – at best – a week or two’s worth of “best guess” of what the economy will do. Yet, in order to run our businesses we need to plan further in advance than that. So it comes down to smoothing out all the two-week predictions into a six to twelve month outcome and making a plan. Americans in general are really bad at this. You only have to look at our personal savings to figure out that we live for the moment. The lack of personal savings, retirement accounts, or home equity is all testament to the fact we would rather buy a new flat screen television on credit than wait until we can afford it. And as businesses, we spin bad news into good so quickly that we end up overstaffed, undercapitalized, and out of sync with the market. We avoid diluting our optimism by creating artificial support for irrational expectations.

So, what’s it going to take to make money in 2009? I won’t win any popularity contests with my opinion. I think it is going to require a healthy amount of pessimism to come out a winner. Systems’ Integrators may have four months’ worth (instead of six) of their pipeline still intact. Most rental-stagers are seeing a stable – albeit 5-10% lower than last year – Q1 ’09. Which means that unless something extraordinary happens in the next two months, there will be some huge drops in revenue for unprepared companies in both segments. Prepared companies will see EXPECTED revenue reductions instead of UNEXPECTED shortfalls. And proactive companies will minimize their revenue rollbacks with aggressive marketing, business development, and diversification.  They will maximize their profit by right-sizing their companies for the revenue they can count on. In doing so they will be ready for downturn – whatever it may be.
I admire the optimism of those that say this recession is the by-product of groupthink generated by the press. I do not believe that confidence alone is going to protect anyone from the ill effects of this crisis any more than I think the press can truly and affect the market. For that matter, a President can’t cheer the country into an economic revitalization. The sooner we find the bottom of our personal and business economic realities, the sooner we can return to growth.