Budapest Conference 1997

Steve Bryant, General Secretary:

FIAT/IFTA enjoyed its biggest ever conference this year, with almost 180 delegates gathering in Budapest in September. What is more, the conference was regarded by those who attended as one of our most interesting and successful. This was largely thanks to the excellent organisation by our hosts from MTV Corp. Even the weather was fine!

Several aspects of the conference are worthy of note and have implications for our future gatherings:

• the provision of several technical "hands on" possibilities provided an extra dimension which has previously been lacking from more traditional technical presentations. Sony, a major sponsor of the conference, set up a Compression Workshop which could be visited at any time. Also, the excellent Euromedia demonstration was supplemented by the chance for delegates to try it for themselves on an individual basis.
• the Open Commission Meetings, now a traditional part of the day before the "official" opening of the Conference, have become so successful that, yet again, the room provided was not big enough. Furthermore, the size of the audience really required there to be microphones and maybe translations. We must now decide whether these meetings should not be integrated within the main sessions of the Conference, though some would regret losing the more informal nature of the occasions.
• the Award presentation was the best yet. This was partly helped by the spectacular setting chosen for the closing dinner, but was mainly the result of having learned from previous mistakes. Karl Maier produced a ceremony which was entertaining and appropriate - and managed to fit in the new Innovation Award as well!
• the question of organising an excursion arose again. There really is no final answer here. Some delegates will always think that an excursion is an unnecessary indulgence and that time is better spent on conference proceedings. Others see it as a valuable break in a busy week and a chance to talk informally to other delegates. I must say that, as one of the organisers of the conference, I found this year's excursion, the first for several years not to be related to archival matters, a welcome break from the main activities, as well as a highly enjoyable event in itself. However, we will continue to keep the question in mind and will attempt to find the right balance for future conferences.

Planning for the 1998 Florence Conference is now beginning. I would be very pleased to hear from any member who has any comment or suggestion to make on any aspect of conference organisation. It is your conference - please let us know what you want

AnikÑ JÑsza, Head of Archives, Hungarian Television Corp:

Dear Colleagues and Friends, The monthly journal TELEHIR (TELENEWS) of MTV Corp. has published a special edition on the 1997 FIAT/IFTA conference in Budapest, Hungary. While meditating on the content of the article and going through the photos a number of memories came to my mind. Please allow me to put down a few words in connection with the conference, primarily as one of the organisers.

In 1995, during one of the breaks of the Washington conference some of our colleagues spoke about their visit to Budapest when they also had the opportunity to come to our archives. The interesting account seemed to attract the attention of those present and this is when the idea to organise a conference in Budapest cropped up. We on our part were happy to hear this initiative. Upon returning to Budapest the suggestion was immediately laid before the MTV board of directors who were only too pleased to give their consent to it. Thus, organising could begin well before the event. When we were approaching the date of the conference, the number of delegates kept on rising from day to day which made us happy on the one side but also a bit worried on the other. We hope to have been able to overcome the majority of difficulties and from the feedback of participants we gather that we did.

The weather was a crucial issue for the success of the event but most fortunately Mother Nature was gracious and helped us in showing you Budapest and the area round the city of Eger at their best.

As the main topic of the conference was Television Archives: Between Cultural Heritage and Profit Centres we would have liked the commercial television channels - that were just about to be launched - to participate and set forth their relevant ideas. This would also have been interesting because the appearance of commercial networks in Hungary will bring about radical changes in the functioning of public broadcasting services, that is MTV Corp. Unfortunately, but due to obvious reasons (these were the last days before starting to broadcast) representatives of these channels could not take part. However, we hope to be able to give an account of the new structure of broadcasting in Hungary at the next FIAT/IFTA conference in Florence.

Until then, we wish all FIAT/IFTA members and the organisers of the next conference much success with their work.

MTV President Istvan Petak
Photo: Gösta Johansson