SMPTE’s new executive director, Barbara H. Lange
SMPTE tapped a sister organization—the I triple E, as most everyone voices it—for its new executive director, Barbara H. Lange.
Lange, who was staff director of product management and business development for the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers, will be responsible for managing business development, operations and marketing activities for the White Plains, New York-based group, which calls itself the leading technical society for the motion imaging industry.
Now in its 94th year, SMPTE (Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers) enters a challenging time for its charge to help set technical standards and practices for the motion-imaging industry—new technologies abound, including 3-D distribution to the home, ever mutating formats for production and post, and concerns for some practical way to archive all those 1s and 0s. But society membership is aging, stagnating as engineers get tossed aside by broadcasters, while industry support wavers as stalwart funders such as Eastman Kodak face their own challenges.
It’s no wonder SMPTE looks to the upside, touting Lange in a press release as “instrumental in developing new subscription products and innovative business models that leverage the Internet, mobile phone, and other platforms…(driving) double-digit increases in revenue for IEEE.”
Ken Fuller, SMPTE president praised Lange’s “vision and proven effectiveness” in creating new opportunities for making money and growing membership as the group rolls out an “aggressive” growth plan.