To get a first-hand buyer’s perspective of the recently concluded virtual MIP Cancun TV market, VideoAge contacted V. John Baghdassarian, vp, Content Acquisitions and Strategy for the Los Angeles-based Olympusat.
Baghdassarian (pictured above) connected to MIP Cancun’s portal for four hours on the market’s first day, Tuesday, November 17. He was online for eight hours on both Wednesday and Thursday, and then four hours on Friday, the market’s last day.
“For me,” he said, “the market evolved as more companies participated because it was a virtual conference. As it was a virtual market, more companies participated, as they limited their expenses. However, this caused virtual market fatigue as MIP Cancun was one of the last markets of the year. It was difficult to stay fresh for four to eight hours a day, staring at the computer screen. Even though in person I used to have eight to 10 meetings a day, staring at a screen for that long of a period was mentally tiring.”
Baghdassarian added that fortunately, “MIP Cancun’s platform was quite easy to use, easier than its larger sibling’s platform, MIPCOM Plus.”
He found that the most useful feature was that “the system recognized the time zone of the participant, and the ability to block certain parts of the day, so you were not scheduled a meeting. Lastly, the chat feature during the meeting to send info in real time [was also quite useful.]”
As for how to improve the experience, Baghdassarian couldn’t “think of anything in particular, as it was well designed. The best improvement will be to be back in Cancun next year.”
Leave A Comment