I’m so immensely proud of the team of volunteers over the last five years who followed me on a journey to our 75th anniversary of our industry association WABE, and bridging the past and building the future of what a media entertainment technology conference could look like in Canada.
It’s time for convergence among all our sectors, as content is no longer viewed just on the big screen, the small screen, or the home screen. Good creative content made here in Canada is coming of age.
Well, I may have grown up as a broadcast engineer in a local television and radio stations on the prairies. Most of us who’ve worked behind the scenes in media entertainment come from small, humble beginnings, taking a program at a local college like the SAIT Broadcast Systems Technology program we’re celebrating as part of our reunion. But there were many programs out there—from film to television, broadcast and electronics—that gave many of us a skill we could take to support content creators.
The show we’re having in Calgary, Sept. 29 to Oct. 1, is a technical show for anyone working behind the scenes: from AV, broadcast, film, post-production, and live events, to staging. It’s the beginning of a future that I see is possible right here in Canada. The show is not to replace an NAB or IBC or Infocomm or CES experience. The future of the show has real potential to be something quite special and uniquely Canadian.
The fundamentals of this conference and what it stood for is about moving city to city, different venues every year, changing it up. A venue is just a venue. A city is just a city. But the community—that’s what counts. And making it accessible, affordable, and regional to be able to gather students and VPs and mid-career workers, and those on the fringe of large projects and deep in the thick of some of the biggest transformative projects in Canadian content.
Ideas come from everywhere. We can look outside our borders to find all kinds of ideas that might work here at home. History, though, shows us that we can both make some pretty amazing content, some pretty amazing technology, and deliver some pretty amazing talent.
There is a place in Canada for public broadcasting, independent films, private radio, podcasting, amazing events, live production, big box office hits, and so much more.
If you can make it to Calgary next week, you want to talk and see a little tech, come walk the Exhibit Hall for free. Sign up for a day pass or come for our social event Monday night for $15. If you’ve ever been to a Manitoba social, you’ll understand what our Monday Media Mixer is all about—a community gathering open for everyone who works behind the scenes and wants to touch base with a work community they’ve grown up in.
All of what we will experience next week at the conference is driven by the hard work of volunteers who truly believe that if we get together, have a place to have a conversation about the work we do, there’s a possibility for growth, change, and opportunity. The amazing thing about working with a volunteer team who believes what you believe in, and stands on the shoulders of hundreds of volunteers over 75 years, is that no gathering of this community of professionals together fails to strengthen an industry.
If you find yourself with a Monday evening free, come down to the Telus Convention Centre at 6 p.m., and all your best friends in the industry will be there. If you have time, stay, listen to some panel discussions, paper presentations, and walk the floor and see the new tech. Ask the sales staff in our free Exhibit Hall questions like: What technology are you most excited about? What project really inspired you this year? Where do you see growth, possible collaborations coming from, that you didn’t see last year? Where are the opportunities that you’re seeing?
It’s a chance to look forward, because when we understand what’s coming next for technology, we can make positive, good choices about tools that create great content, lift up voices in our community, tell stories, and seek out truth.
I look forward to the conference at the end of the month and seeing all of you!
Tessa Potter
President WABE
Learn more about the WABE Media & Entertainment Technology Conference · Sept 29–Oct 1 · Calgary, Telus Convention Centre, here. #wabeyyc2025
