I am moderating the panel, Live Through the Internet: Here Today, Even Better Tomorrow at the SMPTE Entertainment in the Connected Age near San Jose, June 27-28. This is an interesting conference covering lots of entertainment technology. Here are the details on my panel:

Eric Grab, Founder, Disruption Wave – Moderator
Will Law, Chief Architect, Akamai
Nils Krahnstover, Senior Manager for Video Infrastructure, YouTube
Kumar Subramanian, CEO, Media Melon
Martin Hess, Senior Director of Engineering, Twitch.tv

Live content through the Internet is here, but it has challenges with scale and synchronization. How many simultaneous users can be expected to be handled with Internet infrastructures? How much delay is acceptable, and how can it be minimized? What about showing the same event on different screens and keeping the experience consistent and in sync? Also the lines are blurring between professional and consumer as applications on network connected cameras enable instant live broadcasts and engaging audience management. Overall can live Internet be better than live broadcast through channels, and what features will make it so?  Could hybrid delivery models  such as “late binding” using the best of broadcast with the best of the internet  offer improved performance and flexibility? In this session, experts will address the challenges and potential of live Internet video. Also they will address what the future will bring and how live coverage will shift given advances in Internet and video technology.

I will be moderating a panel at the TV of Tomorrow Show in San Francisco on June 7th. Overall it looks like a very interesting show. It has a rather interesting name. Here are the details on the panel I am moderating:

12:00-12:55PM
Cypress Room
THE BRIDGE: Avoiding the Jerk(iness)

As consumers are migrating an increasing amount of their viewing time online, their expectations of a quality experience are similarly increasing. Tolerance for slow starts, buffering, and poor-quality video is falling, and the penalty for poor performance is swift. After 4 minutes of poor streaming performance 75% of online video viewers will have abandoned the video they were seeking to watch. But there are things a content service provider can do to minimize the problems, and this panel will explore what those are. Some of the topics covered will include: Common video playback problems and how to avoid them; how to deliver smooth playback end-to-end; and the benefits of server-side ad insertion. Panelists include:

• Eric Grab, Founder, Disruption Wave (Moderator)
• Michael Dale, VP of Engineering, Ellation
• Jason Friedlander, Director of Solutions Engineering, Media and Entertainment, Verizon Digital Media Services
• Ed Haslam, CMO, Conviva
• Spencer Sellay, Director of Global Solutions, IneoQuest Technologies
• Kurt Michel, Head of Marketing, IneoQuest Technologies
• Peter Vasay, SVP of Technology Operations, THX