Speaking on behalf of the SMPTE Board and the Society as a whole, I can say that we all deeply appreciate Barbara’s value-driven leadership over the past 12 years and the many significant contributions she has made to SMPTE. Barbara’s vision and dedication have been invaluable to the executive committee and the board. For me and as SMPTE president, it has been a great pleasure working with her to ideate and implement a strategy for SMPTE.
Through her work, Barbara has transformed SMPTE into a modern, globally recognized organization that delivers standards, education, and networking opportunities that help individuals and businesses across the industry to advance and succeed. During her tenure as executive director, SMPTE has enjoyed a solid growth trajectory and maintained its position as a locus of innovation in a rapidly evolving media industry. With the many changes in the industry—AI, immersive media, data-driven workflows, and more—SMPTE’s future lies in continuing to serve as a gravity point for innovation.
Barbara’s vision shaped the newly launched rapid industry solutions (RIS) program as an example of the creative ways in which SMPTE leverages its expertise and resources—including many talented volunteers—to address the current and emerging needs of the industry. We have seen immense interest in our first RIS for on-set virtual production and will be refining and applying this formula to other critical media workflows to bring further value to the industry. As the Society moves forward, I hope that our new executive director will build on this and other critical achievements to address the needs of technologists and creatives in media.
Ideally, this leader will come to the role with expertise in nonprofit organization business and the understanding that our media industry is in the midst of a digital transformation. In guiding SMPTE into the future, they will work closely with home-office staff, the SMPTE Board, SMPTE Section leaders, and other volunteers in speaking to the quickly changing requirements of broadcast stations, networks, studios, OTT service providers, production companies, and e-sports organizations, among others.
Equally important to Society is an ongoing commitment to our core values and our dedication to becoming an ever more diverse and inclusive organization. Under Barbara’s leadership, SMPTE worked to assert these values in all areas of operations and programming, but of course, there is always work to be done. We will further transform the Society and generate even greater value for SMPTE’s global membership as a result of this work.
Today, all of this change—across the industry and consequently for SMPTE—takes place against the backdrop of the pandemic crisis. We have seen the importance of collaboration in maintaining progress in the face of new challenges during these difficult times. Collaboration is central to SMPTE’s future success, whether it is between leadership and the Society’s home-office team or cooperation among the many SMPTE members who give their time and talent to support educational programming and standards work.
Barbara is well aware that guiding this work is both challenging and rewarding. We are grateful for her exceptional leadership over the years and wish her all the best in her future endeavors!