18 Terabytes in 4 days?! How uStudio Helped the International CES Manage Its Video Workflow

Sean Parker of the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) talks about the making of the International Consumer Electronics Show (CES) and how choosing uStudio as the video platform for its business made a difference.

 

What is the International CES?
The International CES is a large consumer technology show that takes place in Las Vegas each January. In 2015, we had more than 165,000 attendee and 3300 exhibitors taking place on over 2 million square feet of show floor across three different campuses across the city of Las Vegas. It’s a very large undertaking, but all centered on consumer technology.

How is the International CES different from other large technology trade shows or conferences?
When you think about CES and the companies that are display there, these are companies that have actually taken that inspiration and innovation and have brought that to actual life. These are the things that are going to change people and change the world, not just ideas somewhere.

What does CES represent for someone like yourself who is actually working behind the scenes at the show in production or content management?
The four days around CES, we produce more videos than we do in any other time. In 2015, we had 18 terabytes of video distribution. We do highlight videos for different sections of the show. We do conference videos. We do keynote videos. We do behind the scene videos. We’re producing huge amounts of video in a very rapid time period of more than we do the rest of the year. There’s a lot to show, and a lot to shoot, and a lot to display and distribute. I mean, somehow, it all gets done, but it’s pretty mess of undertaking. The days are really, really long. They’re probably total of 14 hours long. We’re getting up early. We’re meeting, and then we’re going in and gathering content and distributing content throughout the day.

Does the International CES represent your heaviest video workflow?
Yes.

2015 was the first year you relied on uStudio as your video platform solution for CES. How was that experience?
This year for us, video was immensely easier because we had uStudio. In prior years, we did spend a lot of time uploading videos, making sure that people had access or could upload videos. Things took a long time.

This year, we are actually able to concentrate on covering the show floor and gathering content. It went incredibly smoothly and it was a relief because I didn’t have to worry about, “Is this going to get uploaded? When is it going to get uploaded?” It just happened. It was there. I didn’t have to worry about video. I didn’t have to worry about where people are going to find it or see it because it was just there.

How does having a video platform partner like uStudio impact the relationships you have with your other video vendors at CES?
When we get onsite on CES, we end up working with a bunch of different production companies. They’re all over the place. Having a single tool that everybody can use, I don’t have to worry about it. I don’t have to get frustrated. I can concentrate on doing my job and getting content ready and out, and not have to worry about all these other companies and, “Do they have access? Have they uploaded that video,” because this year, everybody was just uploading and it happened quickly, and it happened properly, and it was great.

With so many video vendors, it must require a lot of coordination and training to get them all working seamlessly together. How did previous years compare to 2015, which was your first year using uStudio as your platform?
In the past, it’s been a complex issue where we’ve had either a very long call or multiple phone calls about how to use the video platform, how to upload, etc. This year, I could actually step out of it, and my team handled it. It was just a quick sheet on “this is how you upload, and this is where you go.” It was done. That was it. I think it took less than an hour. The process for getting all these vendors together and on one sheet was actually really easy.

How did it feel onsite when you were actually using uStudio while the event was live?
Onsite, it was great. In the past, I’ve heard frustration and issues like, “Oh my gosh. This platform isn’t working for us. How’s this going to upload?” There had been times where I had to get involved with the production companies and go down and babysit them through the process. This year, I didn’t have to worry about anything. It was just simply, “This is how you do it,” and it was done.

Is speed the most important factor affecting your team while you’re onsite at CES? How would you say your perception of time changed with use of uStudio?
Onsite at CES, speed is a factor. We work to get keynotes up the same night that they happen. We work to get conference sessions up the same day that they happen. In the past, we would have to let our conferences and our communications teams know that it might take up to 24 hours to post a video.

We had none of that this year. This year, things we’re up in hour after an event occurred. That is a lot of video going through uStudio at one time, but it was still getting up there. It was still being viewed. That speed just is incredibly helpful onsite, because it lets us look at the whole show differently when we don’t have to worry about whether our videos are going to post quickly and correctly.

If a friend or a colleague were to ask you should they switch to uStudio what would you say?
With social media, with web content, we’re having less and less time to do things. The more places we can save and the more things that are easy to use, we need to have that. If somebody came up to me and said, “Hey. We’re using this solution or this solution. What do you guys using? What do you recommend,” I would definitely say “uStudio.”