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WAEA 25th Annual Conference & Exhibition
21-24 September 2004
Washington State Convention & Trade Center

Drawing nearly 1,500 delegates, the WAEA 25th Annual Conference & Exhibition – 21-24 September in Seattle, Washington - again featured the latest educational forum and comprehensive showcase on airline inflight entertainment and communications technologies, trends, opportunities, and intelligence. In all, 72 Airlines and 187 Vendor Companies were represented.

In his Opening Keynote Address, Dr. Paul F. Liao, President of Panasonic Technologies Company, highlighted the recent innovations in consumer audio and video and the rapid “uptake” into the consumer lifestyle. Education sessions, over the next four days, delved more deeply into emerging consumer “gadgets” and their impact on airline-passenger expectations. Delegates also examined the latest developments in the “wireless” cabin and the latest issues surrounding inflight real-time TV. Other sessions revealed the “art” of editing feature films for inflight exhibition, the impact of low-cost carriers, the “nuts and bolts” of digital content management, and more. (See “Session Briefs” below)

Meanwhile, the WAEA Exhibition Hall gave delegates firsthand experience with the latest in inflight hardware, systems, connectivity, and content. Hot products and technologies this year included new offerings for inflight broadband connectivity, portable AVOD devices, fiber-optics based IFE systems, improved user-interfaces for interactive systems, and more. Also prominent this year were a number of companies with solutions to allow passengers (in the future) to use their cellular phones inflight. (See “News Briefs” for a round-up of company announcements made at the show.)

The delegation also took full advantage of the daytime and evening Networking Opportunities and a number of night-time events hosted by WAEA-Member Companies at local Seattle hot spots.

The Annual Conference culminated in the WAEA Annual Gala Banquet and the presentation of the 16 th Annual Avion Awards … where United Airlines, Virgin Atlantic Airways, and SriLankan Airlines earned top honors for “Best Overall IFE.” WAEA also presented “Lifetime Achievement Awards” to former WAEA Director Pam Ryan and WAEA Founding Member John White.

Click on the following links for additional coverage!

Report on IFE Expenditure

Session Articles

Session PowerPoint Presentations (members only)

Avion Award Winners/Runners-Up + WAEA News Release

WAEA "Lifetime Achievement Award" Recipients

New WAEA 2004-2005 Board Of Directors

Conference Daily Editions of WIN

WAEA Annual Conference News Briefs - Key WAEA-Member/Industry News Emerging during the Conference Week

Conference Sponsors

List of Exhibitors and Non-Exhibiting Vendors

List of Airlines in attendance

List of Registered Press