30 years, past, present and future technology

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On the 26th April 2020, Universal Live along with Universal AV turned 30 years old. Like many of you celebrating your birthdays and important milestones in lockdown, we raised a glass in the comfort of our own homes, looking back at the last 30 years and wondering what the next 30 will bring.

Universal’s story began back in 1990 when we started selling camera tripods. In the same year, the Hubble Space Telescope was launched, Margaret Thatcher resigned as the UK’s first female Prime Minister and Nelson Mandela was released from prison. It also saw the official launch of the World Wide Web by Tim Berners-Lee. Could you imagine not having that tool right now? It has enabled us all to continue to work, learn and communicate with colleagues and loved ones in this most uncertain time. 

Technology has certainly come a long way since 1990. We have seen OHP’s replaced by projection, a move in some areas from projection to LED, including curved screen solutions and a step towards virtual meetings using platforms such as Zoom, Microsoft Teams, Skype and Hangouts.

Advances in technology have changed the way we communicate, and as technology continues to evolve so will the way we interact with each other. These emerging technologies need to be embraced, and their potential realised to deliver an amazing experience to event attendees. We have already identified a shift towards hybrid events over the past couple of years. That shift will be magnified moving forward as the events industry begins to adapt to deliver events that comply with social distancing practices.

The year 2020 is not the end of the events industry; it is the beginning of a new direction, and we now look to the next 30 years. With an office move on the horizon as soon as it is safe to do so, as well as some exciting new projects, including virtual events and live streaming, hybrid and broadcasting

The past few weeks have forced changed for people, and how we deliver events will no doubt change. Will we embrace what we have learnt from the pandemic? Will we ever go to the office as much as we used to. The answer- Who knows? We are excited to see what these new challenges bring to us to allow us to innovate and devise solutions for our clients.

One thing we can be sure of is that when we look back on 2020 we’ll remember the fantastic efforts provided by the NHS and all key workers that helped us get through such a testing time for the nation, and we’ll also remember that day when we turned 30 years old.

Happy 30th Birthday Universal and thank you to all of our clients and our awesome team that have made this journey with us.

Adam Parry
Author: Adam Parry

Adam is the co-founder and editor of www.eventindustrynews.com Adam, a technology evangelist also organises Event Tech Live, Europe’s only show dedicated to event technology and the Event Technology Awards. Both events take place in November, London.

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