Palm Springs to Soho
By Barbara Lange
As we close the books on a stellar 2018 HPA Tech Retreat, all I can say is wow, what a week! This year’s HPA Tech Retreat was the largest outing yet for this “must-attend” event. With four and half days of content and an innovation zone with more than 60 leading companies presenting the latest in creative technology, the HPA Tech Retreat lived up to its reputation.
The week kicked off on Monday at TR-X, a fascinating half-day deep dive into Machine Learning and AI that offered all you ever needed to know that you didn’t know you didn’t know. We learned that there’s still a lot to be learned in this growing area of the media business. Tuesday’s SuperSession followed the course of snowflake workflows – yes, it’s still snowing! And once again, Mark Schubin programmed an excellent two and half days of in-depth presentations and panels covering the gamut of issues hitting our industry. One of the highlights for me was watching a virtual film being made right before our very eyes!
Papers of presentations are being made available to conference delegates right now with first-ever videos quickly to follow. We hope you enjoy this benefit of attending the HPA Tech Retreat. Make a note, next year’s Tech Retreat will be a bit earlier than usual, February 11 – 15 at the same elegant JW Marriott in Palm Desert. I look forward to seeing you there!
It’s time now to turn our attention to London, and the third installation of this outstanding HPA event in the UK. Rebranded as HPA Creative Tech UK, this one-day event moves from the Oxford countryside straight to Soho, the heart of UK’s post-production world. This year’s one-day event will be a fresh approach to the established Tech Retreat commitment to superior content. Mark your diaries for Wednesday, June 27.
Creative Tech will take place at the hot Ham Yard Hotel located just off Piccadilly Circus. The facility boasts a fully loaded digital cinema screening room that will accommodate 190, the perfect number to go deep into a few heady topics with an intimate audience.
We’ve upped the ante on the program with live demos. Yes, we’re going to jump into the land of exciting (though unpredictable) demos, including the who, how, and why of hacking; an on-set review demo; and discussions about the future of everything AI. We are still putting the final touches on the program, so things may change. But I do hope you’ll plan on attending.
In addition to an outstanding program, HPA Creative Tech UK is bringing all the Tech Retreat mojo – an Innovation Zone, plenty of networking time to meet, greet and discover new things. The Ham Yard Hotel is a fantastic venue with a cool vibe — quite fitting for our first event in London.
Registration is open now at www.hpaonline.com, with Early Bird pricing in effect through 14 April. If you are interested in sponsoring the event, please contact Joyce Cataldo at jcataldo@hpaonline.com.
Considering the speed at which technology is evolving, it’s exciting to imagine how different the questions and answers will be at HPA Creative Tech UK in a few short months, compared to the Tech Retreat we just left. It’s a thrilling industry we work in, and we’re grateful for the opportunity to connect with all of you throughout the year to follow what’s going on in every corner of it.
See you in London!