The Hollywood Professional Association has issued the call for proposals for the 2020 HPA Tech Retreat, which marks the 25 anniversary of this unmissable event in media and entertainment technology. The annual gathering of professionals from around the world who work at the intersection of technology and creative media is a perennial sell out.

The main program, which is the most extensive portion of the HPA Tech Retreat, is determined by the proposals submitted during this process. Proposals will be accepted until Friday, October 25, 2019. Also open now are submissions for the breakfast roundtables.

This year, the HPA Tech Retreat will be comprised of Tech Retreat Extra (TR-X), the supersession, the main conference, breakfast roundtables, and the Innovation Zone.

The event in the Palm Springs area attracts a wide array of distinguished attendees and speakers and engages leaders from every facet of the content ecosystem. The 2020 HPA Tech Retreat will take place February 17 through 20 at the Westin Mission Hills Golf Resort & Spa in Rancho Mirage, CA.

Call for Proposals: Main Program

The main program presentations are set for Wednesday, February 19, and Thursday, February 20, 2020. These presentations are strictly reserved for marketing-free content. Mark Schubin, who has programmed this portion of the Tech Retreat since its inception and is seen as the Maestro of the Tech Retreat, notes that main program sessions can include a wide range of topics. “The HPA Tech Retreat is a high-information, low-formality event, chock full of everything you could possibly want to know. My unofficial slogan for the Tech Retreat is, ‘someone will be there who knows the answer.’ We seek thought-provoking, challenging and important ideas as well as the latest developments and the creative use of technology. Chances are we will dive into the entire array of topics related to moving images and associated sounds. That includes, but is not limited to: alternative content for cinema, broadcast in the age of broadband, content protection, dynamic range, enhanced cinema, frame rate, global mastering, higher immersion, international law, joke generation, kernel control, loss recovery, media management, night vision, optical advances, plug-‘n’-play, queasiness in VR, robo-post, surround imagery, terabyte thumb drives, UHD II, verification, wilderness production, x-band internet access, yield strength of lighting trusses, and zoological holography.” It is a far-ranging and creative call to the most innovative thinkers exploring the most interesting ideas and work. He concludes with his annual salvo, “Anything from scene to seen and gear to ear is fair game. So are haptic/tactile, olfactory, and gustatory applications.”

Proposals, which are informal in nature and can be as short as a few sentences in length, must be submitted by the would-be presenter. Submitters will be contacted if the topic is of interest. Presentations in the main program are typically of half-hour duration, including set-up and Q&A. The deadline to submit main program proposals is end of day, Friday, October 25, 2019. Submissions should be sent to tvmark@earthlink.net.

Call for Proposals: Breakfast Roundtables

Breakfast roundtables take place Tuesday, February 18 through Thursday, February 20, beginning at 7:30 AM. The moderator-led breakfast roundtables can include marketing information, whereas the program presentation proposals cannot. Schubin comments, “Table moderators are free to teach, preach, ask, call-to-task, sell, kvell, or do anything else that keeps conversation flowing for an hour.”

There is no vetting process for breakfast roundtables. All breakfast roundtable moderators must be registered for the Retreat and there is no Retreat registration discount conveyed by moderating a breakfast roundtable. Proposals for breakfast roundtables must be submitted by their proposed moderators and once the maximum number of tables is reached (32 per day), no more can be accepted.

In reflecting upon the call, Seth Hallen, president of HPA said “As we prepare to embark on another incredible Tech Retreat, we are proud to celebrate 25 years of bringing informative, jaw dropping, and sometimes previously unseen topics and to this incomparable week in the desert. For 25 years, under the brilliant leadership of Mark Schubin, the HPA Tech Retreat has been a must-attend event for anyone who seriously keeps an eye on the trends and topics that drive our industry. This year, we’ll celebrate the history of the Tech Retreat while looking firmly past the horizon at what’s to come. The authenticity, relevance and passion that comes through in the presentations and discussions is what has always made the HPA Tech Retreat program unique. We eagerly await the proposals for this year’s program. I encourage you to submit.”

Further details for the 2020 HPA Tech Retreat will be announced in the coming weeks, including the TR-X focus, supersession topics, and Innovation Zone details

The HPA Tech Retreat perennially sells out, and the programming, breakfast roundtables, Innovation Zone slots fill quickly. Early registration and submissions for program slots are highly encouraged. Tech Retreat registration will open in October.

For more information about the 2020 HPA Tech Retreat, visit http://www.hpaonline.com.

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