- The primary takeaway of the first Stampede Drone Vendor Summit is that collaboration is the key to fully profiting from the growing commercialization of drones and Drone Video Systems throughout the ProAV industry.
Kevin Kelly, President and COO of Stampede, said the summit was the first time drone and ProAV experts got together to learn how to collaborate
“This event marked the first time that both drone and traditional ProAV manufacturers, educators, and related service providers came together in one room to listen to subject matter experts and learn how collaboration and cross-industry product integration will result in everyone profiting from the unstoppable wave of innovation being generated by drones,” said Stampede President & COO Kevin Kelly.
“Drones represent the single biggest cycle of innovation since the invention of cellular phones and the long-term impact of drones in every vertical market that the ProAV industry serves is incalculable at this point,” Kelly said. “A very modest estimate is that there are 10,000 applications for drones in the vertical markets served by the ProAV industry and that means that there is room for everyone at the table when it comes to commercializing this historic opportunity.”
Summit attendees learned that the range of applications for drones in the ProAV market, and the types of systems that can be designed to meet individual channel and user requirements are vast.
“There is no one definition of a drone and there is no one definition of a Drone Video System,” Kelly said. “We can all add value with the products and services that each of us already offers in the marketplace.”
In addition to executive presentations by Kevin Kelly, Jeff Willis, Stampede SVP of Product Management & Marketing, Beth Clune, VP of Vendor Marketing Programs, and Eric Jameson, Product Manager: Drone Video Systems, and a keynote by Thomas Frey of the Da Vinci Institute, each manufacturer was offered the opportunity to present and demo their product offering.
“These presentations highlighted the reality that the vast majority of drone potential remains untapped – it’s the underwater mountain that lays beneath the tip of the iceberg,” Kelly said. “To watch collective light bulbs in the audience turn on, and subsequent dialogue ensue, when traditional ProAV companies – such as video conferencing, digital asset management, GPS tracking, and command and control – demonstrated how seamlessly their products integrate with next-generation drone hardware, is validation that we, as an industry, are only just beginning to unlock the potential of drones in the ProAV market.”
Drone and ProAV manufacturers were able to show off and demo their products
The idea of “full potential actualized through product integration” was a theme stressed throughout the summit. In Jameson’s presentation on Drone Video Systems, he said the drone, as a standalone product, offers limited capabilities and functionality. However, when integrated with command & control capabilities and video conferencing software, applications grow exponentially and a drone’s full potential is actualized.
The attendees of the Drone Vendor Summit, and members of the DVS product category, include leading drone and ProAV manufacturers and service providers such as DJI, Walkera, Yuneec, xCraft, XFOLD, AEE, Troy Built Models, Vidyo, Trackimo, Amimon, VideoBank, Milestone, Coretronics, Unmanned Vehicle University, UA Solutions, and Hogan Lovells.
