Just prior to IBC, I had a chance to speak with Avid CEO Gary Greenfield, who has picked up some added responsibilities following the departure of COO Kirk Arnold in July, and the divestiture of the company’s consumer business shortly before that. Greenfield wanted to focus on the company’s new vision and direction, as well as shed some light on the Avid’s plans for the annual IBC show.
Several years back, Avid had pulled its presence from IBC, but when Greenfield joined the company, just under five years ago, he reinstituted having a formal presence at the convention in Amsterdam.
“IBC is an important show for us and one of the reasons we put that back in place was because the European market is very important to Avid,” he notes. “Even though NAB and IBC both have ‘broadcast’ in their names, IBC is clearly a broadcaster/media enterprise-centric show, with a bit of a different blend than NAB. We will be there and will be talking about our solutions for the media enterprise.”
He points to the role Avid played for NBC during the recent London Olympics, providing both broadcast and streaming solutions.
“The types of things we are going to be talking about at IBC are multi-platform delivery solutions: our enterprise Sphere solution, [and] what we refer to as ‘breaking down the walls of the newsroom.’ We’ll be reinforcing those messages and, of course, reinforcing that…when it comes to the creation of content, particularly creative content, Avid is there to support you.”
Selling off its consumer business, says Greenfield, allows Avid to more strongly focus on media enterprise and pro customers. As a more streamlined company, he says, it didn’t make sense to have both CEO and COO positions. As such, he’s picking up much of the responsibilities Arnold previously held.
“It’s a lot more meetings and a little bit more travel,” he notes. “I love visiting the customer, so it’s a mixed blessing. There’s more to do, but it’s great fun.”