Microsoft's Ben Waggoner to Address C4-Sports Sports Media and Technology Conference

Microsoft's Ben Waggoner to Address C4-Sports Sports Media and Technology Conference

HUNT VALLEY, Md., June 5 /PRNewswire/ -- Ben Waggoner, senior program manager, Core Media Processing Technologies group at Microsoft Corp., will be presenting two educational sessions at the Sports Media and Technology Conference, presented by C4-Sports and produced by Future Media Concepts (FMC), on July 18 and 19 at the Las Vegas Convention Center.

The first session, "Encoding Sports for Mobile Devices," will examine the numerous challenges of compressing sports content when targeting playback on mobile devices. Waggoner will use a case study of a wireless company to illustrate how it implemented encoding for sports content and to give attendees techniques on how to implement an optimum encoding scheme to get the "big game" on the "small screen."

Waggoner's second session, "Advanced Compression Techniques for Sports Content," will discuss the tremendous opportunities in using compressed media for the distribution of sports. The session will explore the challenge of receiving high-quality encoded sports content, and it will describe and demonstrate the best practices to deliver sports content with the best possible bang for the bit.

"Sports content can be as challenging to encode as it is compelling to watch, and far too much of the sports content available on portable devices or on the Internet has so many artifacts it's hard to understand the action," said Ben Waggoner. "With modern codec technology this doesn't have to be; we can significantly raise the bar on the quality of sports video, no matter the playback environment."

Prior to joining Microsoft, Waggoner led Interframe Media, a digital media consultancy serving content companies and their technology vendors. He compressed his first video file in 1989 and co-founded Journeyman Post in 1994, becoming one of the nation's first full-time compressionists. He later founded Terran Interactive's Consulting Services Division. Waggoner also regularly appears at industry conferences and is a contributing editor for DV Magazine. He is the author of "Compression for Great Digital Video: Power Tips, Techniques, and Common Sense" from CMP Books and teaches a week-long compression seminar at Stanford University every summer through The Digital Media Academy.

"In the sports industry, there is a rapidly growing demand to deliver sports content on new platforms, such as DVDs, computers, and cell phones, and we are confident that Ben's experience with compressed media will show attendees how addressing this demand is possible," said Ben Kozuch, president and co-founder of Future Media Concepts. "One of the major goals of our conference is to showcase how cutting-edge technology can improve the way content is delivered and educate those responsible for distributing sports content to fans using the latest media-distribution methods and technologies, like video compression and encoding."

The C4-Sports Electronic Media and Technology Show will focus on the critical components of sports technology, and the extensive FMC conference will feature cutting-edge technical sessions and panel discussions designed to allow sports media production professionals to share and learn techniques specific to the sports television production environment.

More information and online registration are available at http://www.c4-sports.com/.

About C4-Sports

C4-Sports is the only exclusive exposition and conference dedicated to the sports content industry. Attracting athletic directors, facility managers, sports broadcasters, coaches, and athletes from across the nation, it will provide exhibitors with the unique opportunity to network with these professionals. More than 5,000 sports professionals are expected to converge in Las Vegas on July 17-19 for this dynamic marketplace of sports technologies, products, services, and ideas. More information about C4-Sports is available online at http://www.c4-sports.com/.

Agency Contact: C4-Events Contact:
Peggy Stalhut, Wall Street Communications Gene Sanders, General Manager
Tel: +1 631.423.4128 Tel: +1 703.287.5974
Email: peggy@wallstreetcom.tv Email: gsanders@c4-events.com

Source: C4-Sports

CONTACT: Agency Contact: Peggy Stalhut, Wall Street Communications,
+1-631-423-4128 or peggy@wallstreetcom.tv; or C4-Events Contact: Gene Sanders,
General Manager, +1-703-287-5974 or gsanders@c4-events.com

Web site: http://www.c4-sports.com/

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