I presented at the #screen4allforum this week on the subject of ‘The Future of Television and User Interfaces’.  There was a mixed bag of panellists on a variety of sessions at this rather unusual academic style event held in Paris.  I found that the ‘production and creative side of the business’ much more open to discussing real issues and tricks of the trade; including opening up about their real life experiences in their respective sectors.  You could tell by the audience participation that this was seen as interesting by the amount of questions thrown at them.

However, a large percentage of the ‘TV technologists’, especially on the panel on which I participated, insisted on doing their ‘Corporate Sales Pitch’ as if the audience was full of potential ‘buyers’ of TV everywhere, specific flavoured user-interfaces and middleware.

The audience present, I imagine, expected to hear about the ‘future of television interfaces’.  They were there, I imagine, to understand where and how their TV shows might be accessed, displayed and how the consumer of the future might interact with the TV.   This was ever so lightly covered by what had been deployed TODAY and where it was deployed TODAY, as if this was the answer to today’s complex world of and the future of television interfaces.

Quite frankly at these kind of events the audiences do not come to hear and see ‘glammed-up’ product pitches, corporate videos and sales promotion.   Our industry is soooo guilty of this right across the board, in all the conferences that I attend.  I know that people don’t like hearing this particular truth about this aspect of seminars and forums, but it is true.  I am sorry if I am accusing people, but it remains a very true fact that we see, all too many times, the Corporate Sales Pitch and absolutely no real discussion and no real ‘thought leadership’ on the topic in hand.

When you only have roughly 10 minutes and that is taken up with who you are and what you sell, dont you think this is not just a little sad and desperate.  The session always ‘runs out of time’ and the audience has no time for questions nor are they inspired to ask any.

I go back to the title Thought Leadership … which is what we were supposed to deliver in order to be interesting, informative and in-line with the subject.  This is going to get much more kudos I would have thought … Or am I perhaps just being a little naive in expecting more from these very clever people?  I am very saddened by the Corporate Sales Pitches approach from almost all of my peers in the television technology sector, however I know for a fact that it will not change, even if highlighted to the the world or my 1/2 dozen readers ;-).