After Nearly Three Years of Virtual Events, SVTA Members Travel Beyond the Screen to Meet in Real Life Introduces New Public Service Level Membership

The Streaming Video Technology Alliance (SVTA), a global technical association developing solutions to address critical technical challenges in delivering a high-quality video experience at scale, kicked off the Q3/Q4 Member Meeting today in Charleston, South Carolina. The members-only event takes place Tuesday, October 18 and Wednesday, October 19 at the Courtyard by Marriott Charleston Historic District. The agenda includes Working Group Sessions and industry presentations and will conclude with an offsite networking activity, a sunset cruise.

“We are ecstatic to be back in-person with our members for the final meeting of 2022, spending two days together immersed in industry discussions and networking,” said Jason Thibeault, Executive Director at the Streaming Video Technology Alliance. “The virtual meetings proved to be productive, and the SVTA made significant strides these past several years, however we’re excited to shift gears back to face-to-face quarterly member meetings. We look forward to the in-person collaboration and spontaneous conversations that will no doubt be a part of this week’s program as we reunite beyond the screen.”

Marketing Technology News: Sinch Announces Changes to Its Management Team

SVTA Introduces Public Service Level Membership

The SVTA is excited to announce a new form of membership targeted at public service companies. This new Principal membership will be provided to organizations that can demonstrate they receive the majority of their funding from the government.

“In the U.S., we have PBS. In the U.K., there’s the BBC. And we know there are other public service organizations throughout the world, such as the Fraunhaufer Institute, that would benefit from being a member, but have a difficult time justifying the costs,” said Thibeault. “We are excited about being able to give membership to companies that act in the public good. Many of them are leaders in streaming video services or technologies and having them participate will add to the value we provide to the industry.”

This new level of membership will provide qualifying companies with a free Principal membership while requiring them to maintain a certain level of engagement to continue receiving a membership grant. Applications for membership will be accepted in a 15-day window at the start of each quarter and evaluated by a subcommittee of the SVTA board of directors. Continuations of awards will be determined at the start of each year.

New Versions of Configuration Interfaces Available

The SVTA announces that Version 1.1 of all three parts of our Configuration Interface API documents are now available from the SVTA website. The Configuration Interface project specifies a non-proprietary, application programming interface (API) to manage configurations of delivery networks, such as CDNs or Open Caching Nodes, from a single interface. These new versions contain slight updates to some of the API methods and metadata. Detailed changes of each revision can be found in the versioning table within the respective document.

The VR/360-Degree Video Study Group Gets Renamed to Support a Broader Scope

To better align with how VR has evolved to include XR and AR, as well as use cases like the Metaverse and Web3, the SVTA has renamed the VR/360-Degree Video Study Group to the Immersive Video Study Group. Rather than just a unidirectional delivery of video to a device, such as 360-degree video to a heads-up display, immersive video represents a bi-directional connection between the device: video is being streamed and data, about the user’s interaction within the immersive experience, is being sent to servers where it can further affect the video. This new name will enable the group to expand the scope of its activities to cover the many ways that video experience can be immersive.

Applications Are Open for the SVTA 2023 Grant Membership Program

SVTA recently opened the application process for the 2023 Grant Membership Program, which enables smaller organizations, such as startups, to participate in and contribute to the Alliance’s work as Principal Members for one year, waiving the standard membership fees. To qualify for the Program, companies must be able to confirm that they generate less than $1.5M in annual revenue. Now in the Program’s sixth year, and as part of the Diversity and Inclusion initiative, the Alliance continues its commitment to award at least 50% of the 2023 grants to underrepresented businesses.

Marketing Technology News: MarTech Interview with Scott Leatherman, Chief Marketing Officer at Veritone