If you’ve been following along with my PLAY 2019 Daily Recap series this week, you’ll know that it’s been an eventful few days—filled with thought-provoking content and discussions around what’s new, what’s next, and what matters in the world of video.
During Day 1 , we hosted a series of hands-on workshops on establishing your OTT service model, overcoming today’s developer challenges, and more. Then, we officially kicked off the conference on Day 2 , with sessions covering everything from converting OTT subscribers to making video accessible. Now, let’s go through a few of today’s highlights.
Finding your breakthrough self
The day began with a general session about maverick behavior, led by Brightcove CRO, Rick Hanson. Rick was joined on stage by Pat Macfie, global director of media at Xero , who shared this major takeaway: In order to break through, “you have to dare to be different”—and potentially fall flat on your face.
Peter Bozinov, director of multiplatform video and editorial at Pelmorex Weather Networks , then shared how his company strives to meet people’s personalized weather needs through video, when it really matters, wherever they are and on any platform. As Peter called out, Pelmorex Weather Networks can’t get a reporter to cover every active weather event, so their viewers have become their reporters—sending in images and videos to help keep people safe. “They’re a critical part of our storytelling,” he explained.
This morning’s opening keynote session then finished off with a presentation by classical music’s number one maverick, Jade Simmons . The world-class concert artist thrilled the crowd by performing piano classics in a new, unique way—and went on to share the inspiring story of how she became a breakthrough musician. According to Jade, there was one question that changed everything: “What would you like to play?”
Session highlights
The day continued with a series of morning sessions, including Your Company’s Got Talent: Let Them Shine! During this session, Ben Johnson, CS video manager at HP , discussed how his customer support team established mobile video studios to create valuable, engaging SME-produced videos. This strategy enabled HP to reduce their production and publishing costs by a whopping 90%.
Today’s agenda ended with a final selection of sessions on topics such as protecting your content with digital rights management and improving your video quality and experience. During the Getting the Most Out of Your Video Budget session, Mimi Rosenheim, senior director of digital marketing at Demandbase , shared her three-step guide to maximizing your budget: define your goals, determine your metrics, and establish your content and distribution strategy.
Thanks again for tuning in to my PLAY 2019 Daily Recap series this week! This was one of our best PLAY conferences yet, and it was a privilege to be able to share insights from our workshops, sessions, and customer stories with you. We hope to see you next year at PLAY 2020! Be sure to keep an eye on this space for some exciting post-PLAY content.