The AES Responds to “Asynchronous Audio:” An Open Letter to SonicScoop

Frank Wells, President of the Audio Engineering Society (AES) sent David Weiss the following letter, in response to our recent column, “After AES 2012: Asynchronous Audio”:

Frank Wells, President of the AES

Dear David,

Thank you for the shout-out and kudos in your post-AES column. I’m glad to be in a position to influence the direction of AES at this critical time, but it’s a team effort and we’ve reached a point where a number of like-minded individuals are working to move the Society forward in a unified fashion. The turning point was the hiring of new Executive Director, Bob Moses. He heads a hardworking but small staff, and the Board of Governors and so many more working on behalf of the Society are volunteers, so change is going to be incremental. That said, fruits of this group’s labors are already being evidenced. In the time I will spend on the AES Executive Committee and as President, job one is to do all I can to help Bob and crew succeed, to the benefit of our membership and industry.

You are obviously quite right that many software vendors were conspicuous in their absence in San Francisco, their indicated tendency being to market to the 100s of thousands and not the thousands of pros. A good number of other software companies were in the Convention exhibits hall and reported they had successful experiences. Providing value and ROI for exhibitors and sponsors is something AES is taking very seriously, and we are talking to potential exhibitors and sponsors as to how we can work together to our mutual benefit, and the benefit of our attendees. As you say, the recording portion of the industry, at least, is very much “in the box,” and somewhat incongruously to that, as a friend commented, the exhibition floor felt somewhat like the 80’s with a focus on hardware, a surprising number of devices having big ol’ Bakelite knobs, with a big iron API Vision as a welcome anchor in the center of the show floor (along with new tech like the Slate Raven). Do remember not to overlook the obvious, that while there is software in the middle of modern production, it’s still bookended by hardware, the very type of hardware dominating the exhibition at the 133rd.

I was surprised that, in your op-ed, you didn’t mention the Project Studio Expo, which kept 200 seats full for near the two full days of the PSE program, adjacent to the exhibition floor. This experiment in targeted content was designed to let the pros educate those who need their knowledge most, to introduce the AES to new faces, to put new customers in front of exhibitors. And, it was an unqualified success. PSE was the first evidence of an ongoing effort to meet not only the educational needs of audio practitioners, but also the stated need of our business partners for direct training of their customers and potential customers.

For about a third of the convention’s attendees, the convention was about far more than just the exhibition floor. There is a huge wealth of information to be harvested in the technical program of the conventions, as you note in passing. From students to practicing professionals to manufacturers, audio pros of every ilk could find more rich content available than there were hours in their days. The Papers and Poster sessions reveal the leading edge of research and hint at the products we’ll be seeing in a year or two, the Workshops hone skills and help refine operational paradigms, the Tutorials cover basics and fundamentals and the Special Events uplift and inspire. Additional marketing and scheduling coordination was focused on Tracks that clustered content for specific markets, including digital audio networking, sound for picture, broadcast audio, gaming, live sound and more. You wrote to your audience, and though the exhibitors present were skewed towards recording, the convention attendance and program covers far more ground than just music recording. There’s an enormous amount of learning that can be found at any AES convention, for any type of participant, both formal as well as the informal and social aspects you mention.

One of the most heartening discoveries in all the conversations with various stakeholders of AES is how much good will there actually is towards the Society, and how much these individuals want AES to succeed as a vibrant and relevant organization. The conventions are the most public face of the Society, though the value of AES goes well beyond the conventions into standards work, education and as the central repository of audio knowledge. The professional audio industry has and does benefit from the Society’s varied activities, and the industry would be less than it is without AES.

It was good to see you in San Francisco, and though I’m sure we’ll be in further contact this year, I look forward to seeing you at the 135th AES in New York next October if our paths don’t physically cross before then.

All the best,
Frank

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