|  The WAEA 26th Annual Conference & Exhibition – 20-23 September in Hamburg, Germany – drew nearly 1200 Delegates to discuss the latest topics and trends in airline inflight entertainment and communications ... and explore the industry's largest Exhibition of IFE products, technologies, and content. In all, 72 Airlines and 177 Vendor Companies were represented.
 In his Opening Keynote Address, Airbus Senior Director of Project Management Andy Schweiger outlined the airframer's focus on “scalability” and “single backbone” cabin architecture to accommodate a wide variety of existing and future entertainment/communication technologies.
Educational sessions and forums, over the next four days, delved further into the new A380 and B787 seat/IFE architectures, as well as the newly adopted WAEA “standards” for Digital Content Management, and the changing “profile” of the airline passenger.
   
Other sessions addressed the impact of portable entertainment devices and explored the new technologies and (hardware and software) platforms shaping the future of IFE. (See “Session Briefs” below)
Among the thousands of products showcased in the WAEA Exhibition Hall, portable and embedded AVOD systems and inflight real-time communications /connectivity solutions were quite prominent. Next-generation digital systems boasted better integration with the latest in streaming and web-based media and the popular “messaging” platforms. Systems also featured more flexibility in terms of interactivity, menuing, and content loading options. (See “News Briefs” for a round-up of company announcements made at the show.)
   
Meanwhile, “ Hollywood Boulevard ” and “World of Television” were as popular as ever as Airlines previewed the coming “avails” from dozens of feature film and short-subject distributors from around the world.
   
The delegation also enjoyed the full schedule of daytime and evening Networking Opportunities and a number of night-time events hosted by WAEA-Member Companies at local Hamburg hot spots.
The Annual Conference culminated in the WAEA Annual Gala Banquet and the presentation of the 17 th Annual Avion Awards … where Qantas Airways and Virgin Atlantic earned top honors for “Best Overall IFE.”
   
 WAEA also presented a “Lifetime Achievement Award” to WAEA Founding Member and two-term (1988-1990) WAEA President Italo Poli. (Linda Palmer, Italo Poli)
Click on the following links for additional coverage!
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