By: Jesse Cryderman
With the clock counting down to BBWF 2011 (just check the show web site if you need to know how many days left before the event), Pipeline takes a moment to review this fast-approaching show.
Paris, Anyone?
Like it or not, the summer of 2011 is coming to an end. While the fall trade show season may not be something you are looking forward to, the light at the beginning of the tunnel is Broadband World Forum (BBWF). This event returns to La Defense, Paris, on September 27, 2011. Paris. In September. Our bags are packed.
Desirable destination aside, there are other credible reasons why your boss should sign off on your travel to attend:
Respectable attendance: Expected to draw over 10,000 attendees, which is notable in an era of declining conferences, the show has become 'the' event for the fixed world. The fact that it's not a mega show makes it manageable for attendees to get around between sessions and visit every stand on the expo floor, if you so desire.
The demographics weigh heavy in the service provider sector (43%), and most former attendees report ample access to service providers for networking opportunities. There are more than 300 speakers and 66 countries represented, but those numbers don't tell the whole story. Still largely an event for EMEA (about 77% of attendees in 2010 were from Europe, MiddleEast and Africa), the show has a ways to go before living up to the "world" part of its name.
Programming: For the paying customer, there are four distinct conference tracks: Business Strategy, Service Implementation, Network Evolution, and Access Evolution. Sessions are broken up into 20-minute presentations followed by 30-minute interactive panel discussions.
Each day the four tracks are organized around an over-arching concept that the organizers clearly spent little time naming. Take the headline for Wednesday, for example: Convergence Delivering Opportunity and Driving Competition and Growth. That's one unmarketable mouthful. Perhaps it's shorter in French? Regardless, look to the track names for a better indication of the type of content you'll find at each session.
In addition, there are two days (Tuesday and Thursday) of programming that is focused on broadband connected verticals that should be full of insight, especially for operators looking for new business opportunities. Topics range from broadband-enhanced public transportation, to the development of smart cities, and are representative of major growth opportunities in the coming five years.
Lastly, there is a full slate of free programming thanks to the Broadband Masterclasses. What are Broadband Masterclasses? Bite-size, 20-minute presentations running back-to-back from 10:30AM through 4PM on Tuesday (day one) and Wednesday (day two) of the show. Tuesday's presentations center around the broadband connected and enabled home, and Wednesday's Masterclasses will focus on ethernet and backhaul.
Key Speakers: A line-up packed with C-level types from leading European and Asian operators, including: William Yeung, CEO, Hong Kong Broadband; Thierry Bonhomme, CTO, Orange France Telecom Group; James Hogan, CEO of Etihad; and Olivier Baujard, CTO, Deutsche Telekom. Also speaking are top executives from vendors like NSN and Alcatel-Lucent, as well as a presentation by the CEO of BitTorrent, which should prove quite interesting.
Floating Awards Gala: A few hundred attendees will have the pleasure of taking in the Broadband InfoVision Awards ceremony while dining and cruising down the Siene onboard the Bateau Diamante Tuesday evening. This promises to be a spectacular experience and probably the highlight of your visit. Viewing Paris, from the Siene, at dusk and into the night is an entirely different experience than any other, and comes highly recommended by members of our own staff if you can cover the price of admission at 299 Euro (not including VAT). With all of the wonderful sights along the Siene, we can't help but wonder whether anyone will be watching the awards presentation.
