The circular grouping of the RAI s rectangular halls encouraged a continuous pedestrian flow through the exhibition, assisted by the strategy of spreading major exhibitors throughout the show rather than concentrating them in relatively small area. The internet, aided no doubt by a pocketful of CDs, had eliminated the need for visitors to waste their energy collecting catalogues. The most astute exhibitors took this a stage further, providing a booth-based PC through which visitors could enter their email address and specific product interests. For the committed paper collector, the IBC daily newspaper produced by David Sparks and his team crammed a prodigious amount of product, contract and technical news into its covers and made an excellent souvenir of IBC 2000 for colleagues unable to attend. These publications depend heavily on the willingness of exhibitors to feed information well in advance of the show rather than competing for space in the pages still being completed during the show itself.
Security is an issue at any exhibition.
The IABM Peter Wayne Award was won this year by Pixelmetrix for its Digital Video Impairment Monitor. A matching expansion of the RAI centre is expected to commence in 2003, adding a 2,000-bed hotel on site and a subway station linking the RAI direct to the heart of Amsterdam. Peter Owen has meanwhile taken the IBC helm as exhibition chairman. A founder member of Quantel in 1973, he held the posts of head of broadcast and chief engineer. His appointment follows the retirement from the post of Bob van der Leeden who has held the role since 1994 and who is now registration chairman.