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Barbara Lange joined SMPTE in January 2010 as Executive Director. She is responsible for executing the Board of Governors’ strategic vision to increase the Society’s visibility and relevance in an ever-changing media ecosystem. The Society focuses on three pillars of activity in Standards, Membership, and Education and the various programs within each. Highlights of Lange’s tenure include successfully launching the Society’s first digital library of its complete intellectual property back to 1916; adding Executive events in Europe; publishing regular updates on Standards activities; overseeing the establishment of the newest Sections in over a decade in India, UK, and within the US; and successfully establishing the Society’s Next Century development fund as part of its Centennial in 2016. Prior to joining SMPTE, Lange developed a focus on product management as a scholarly publishing
executive, often speaking at industry conferences. She spent her career at the world’s largest technical association, IEEE, and the German scholarly publisher, Springer-Verlag. Lange holds Bachelor of Arts in Chemistry and German from Washington and Jefferson College in Washington, PA and completed the Executive Development Program at the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University in Evanston, IL.
September finds SMPTE at the 2016 IBC Show in Amsterdam. As always, SMPTE Members will speak on panels at the IBC Conference, and the Society will be represented by a stand in the Partnership Village.
Shortly after the IBC Show comes the Society’s signature SMPTE 2016 Annual Technical Conference & Exhibition. This year’s event, 24-28 October in Hollywood, California, is dedicated to the SMPTE Centennial Celebration. In addition to an expanded exhibits floor, the event will feature a Centennial Museum, a beer garden, and a University Park, where students will share their technical prowess. This year the Honors & Awards ceremony will be held, complete with red carpet and poolside reception, on the opening night of the conference, immediately following the day-long SMPTE 2016 Symposium on Monday, 24 October.
Tuesday, 25 October, will feature the Opening Keynote, the Fellows Luncheon, and the Annual General Membership Meeting. On Wednesday, 26 October, SMPTE will complement a day of technical sessions with an Oktoberfest reception. The SMPTE-HPA Student Film Festival will close out the day at the Egyptian Theatre. Friday, 28 October, will feature a selection of off-site special events and then the culmination of 2016 centennial celebration with the Centennial Gala, hosted in the Ray Dolby Ballroom.
This history of SMPTE demonstrates the tremendous ingenuity behind the rapid evolution of the motion-imaging field, and it suggests that the Society’s second century will be quite different from its first. As the media industry evolves, new entrants are challenging every aspect of the media workflow, from technology tools to business models. Every step along the media chain is changing, and SMPTE is taking advantage of its centennial year to ensure that it continues to provide valuable leadership and guidance — and standards that are fundamental to ongoing interoperability — in the midst of this change.
Further details are available at the newly launched SMPTE Centennial website.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR: barbara lange