Technology Evolution: Convergence Means Resurgence

By Margo McCall -- Tradeshow Week, 5/15/2006

The idea that voice, data and video would someday be delivered over one network and available via one device sounded futuristic when the communications industry started talking about convergence more than a decade ago. But now that next-generation networks are being rolled out, the promise has become a reality.

Evidence of it is found in the new breed of consumer devices that can be used for making phone calls, sending e-mail, taking pictures, shooting video, watching television, playing games, listening to music and more. It's also apparent in phone carriers encouraging customers to sign up for voice, data and Internet service in one bundle, and in security becoming integrated with the network.

And if the lines between different technologies are blurring, so are the boundaries between some of Las Vegas' top trade-shows. The Natl. Assn. of Broadcasters' NAB2006 is as much about mobile and digital media as it is about broadcasting. CTIA Wireless now attracts scores of representatives from the movie and music businesses in addition to carriers and cell phone makers. USTelecom's TelecomNEXT this year drew not only the heads of major phone companies, but the CEOs of Walt Disney and Time Warner Cable. And digital content providers are now flocking to the Natl. Assn. of Television Program Executives' NATPE.

The convergence between technology companies and the entertainment industry has made for a very busy year for iHollywoodForum, the Los Angeles-based producer of digital entertainment summits. Under a 3-year agreement, iHollywood is putting on the daylong MoTV: Mobile Video & TV Forum and IPTV World at NAB. Its Mobile Entertainment Summit was held April 4 adjacent to CTIA Wireless. And its Mobile ++ has been a hit at NATPE.

All told, the company puts on 16 conferences per year, most dealing with the complex business of supplying content in the new environment. The NAB summits each drew sold-out crowds of 750 attendees. Mobile ++ saw its attendance last January double to 700.

"We bring the two worlds together," said iHollywood President Zahava Stroud. "We find that in the case of NAB, we're educating a very successful industry about how they can take advantage of making money from new forms of technology."

Nick Orfanopoulos, NATPE senior vice president of conferences, operations and sales, said a DVD production of Mobile ++ was one of the association's top sellers.

"All this new technology with mobile and IPTV provides another distribution platform for our members. It's adding a lot of excitement. Hopefully, it will last longer than the Internet craze," he said.

For the time being, convergence seems to be keeping interest in technology tradeshows high. The consumer electronics powerhouse Intl. CES continuously ranks as the nation's largest annual exhibition. The Jan. 5–8 gathering attracted 152,203 attendees to a nearly 1.7 million net square foot floor with 2,700 exhibitors. The April 5–7 CTIA Wireless this year broke records with 40,000 attendees and 1,000 exhibitors. And NAB drew about 105,100 attendees to an 860,000 net sq. ft. showfloor with 1,440 exhibitors.

CMP Media's Interop networking show was established two decades ago with technological convergence in mind. "We're one of the original convergence shows. We've always talked about bringing together different aspects of IT to help businesses," said Lenny Heymann, Interop general manager.

The show is now back on the Tradeshow Week 200, at No. 197, for last year's edition, which drew 375 exhibitors and more than 12,000 attendees. This year's April 30–May 5 event drew a similar number of exhibitors and an estimated 18,000 attendees.

Security, VoIP and collaboration are among Interop's hottest technology areas, with storage also beginning to consume some bandwidth. According to a pre-show survey, a significant percentage of Interop attendees had plans to implement VoIP, video, unified communications and wireless networks. Sixty-five percent planned to research wireless technologies at the show, while almost half planned to integrate VoIP with an 802.11 wireless network.

"What convergence is giving people is more powerful tools to help their business. That's generating excitement," Heymann said.

The technological convergence is also prompting some exhibitors to expand their tradeshow schedules. Next-generation platform producer Nellymoser is one such company. Previously, its exhibiting cycle was done after 3GSM World Congress and CTIA Wireless, but now Nellymoser exhibits at NAB and NATPE too.

"We're moving more toward where our customers are," said Daniel West, vice president of marketing. "It's much better for companies like us to go to their event and express interest in their industry."

West said the response at those shows was "phenomenal. We have a solution that media companies are desperate to have in place," he said. "If we were selling rubber duckies, I don't know if we would have been as busy."

The changes have also caused shows to engage in some rebranding. NAB now bills itself as "the world's largest electronic media show." The association this year launched a showfloor exhibit of nearly two dozen companies delivering next-generation content, including products and services for IPTV, mobile TV, gaming, video on demand and interactive television.

Rather than a gathering of phone companies, TelecomNEXT is now the show "where the business and technology of communications and entertainment meet." At the March 19–23 TelecomNEXT, some sessions dealt with policy changes that would help traditional phone companies survive in the new competitive environment. Others gave the lowdown on IMS, the next-generation standard that will allow fixed and mobile communication over one network.

But even though technology-related shows increasingly seem to be featuring similar content and common exhibitors, it's doubtful that the shows themselves will become one.

Chris Brown, NAB senior vice president of conventions and expositions, attributes some of the overlap to a natural progression in technology and to show organizers trying to tap into new markets. "We're all still serving different pieces, but there is certainly overlap and some duplication in participation," he said.