The top photo & video ecosystem trends to watch, prepare for, or leverage

The way consumers and businesses capture, create, edit, share, and print visuals is evolving at unprecedented speed. Some of today’s photo and video trends are the result of technology advancements in areas such as AI, hardware, connectivity, cloud storage, or software solutions. Others are triggered by shifts in customer needs, behavior and budgets.

Hans will share his perspective on the key currents driving the imaging ecosystem and what they may mean for its participants.

Hans is principal researcher at Suite 48 Analytics and chair of Visual 1st and the Visual 1st DIY Video Summit. Previously, Hans was sr. director of market research at multimedia software company, Nero, and director of product strategy at desktop publishing software company, Quark. Hans co-founded Piczo, a teen photo sharing site that in its heydays counted over 25M registered users. Hans was also director of professional solutions at imaging software company, Live Picture.  

SmugMug & Flickr – retooling for the future of photo sharing

Three years after SmugMug’s acquisition of Flickr, both these seminal photo sharing sites are forging ahead by developing new tools and services. Beyond addressing the needs of their respective customer bases, they’re also focusing on innovation that can attract a new generation of photo enthusiasts.

So what’s next? How to best capitalize on the gaps left by other photo cloud storage or sharing providers who have moved away from their original photo-focused mission? How to monetize – and further empower – their loyal customer base? And how to make SmugMug’s and Flickr’s tools and services an integral part of the broader imaging ecosystem as it evolves?

Don MacAskill is the Co-founder, CEO, and Chief Geek of SmugMug, Inc, the world's largest and most influential photographer-focused community. Founded in 2002 with a mission to support a rapidly growing global community of photographers, Don focused his passion, expertise, and business on serving the only shareholders he believes truly matter: his customers. Personally investing in everything from culture to code to customer support and everything in between over the past 19 years, Don successfully bootstrapped SmugMug into a thriving company with millions of customers. In 2018, SmugMug purchased Flickr from Yahoo, freeing Flickr to focus on inspiring and connecting photographers once again.

Tackling bit-rot to preserve digital memories 

How can visual memories best be preserved for decades to come, to be shared with future generations? We’ve discussed this before at Visual 1st: Neither today’s digital solutions nor yesterday’s analog ones provide the necessary assurances. It’s a huge issue with complex inter-related technical, financial, and fiduciary aspects, and equally large business potential for those who can solve it. 

Emortal (see our coverage) has taken on the challenge. Its mission is providing a comprehensive solution to keep your digital legacy safe, private, accessible, and sharable far into the future. As the service nears public beta, Founder and CEO Colin Culross will discuss how he plans to gain trust from prospective customers and convince them Emortal’s unique approach is what they need. 

Prior to emortal, Colin was founder and CEO of the Junction Group, a 360 degree agency in London, and founding partner of CCB, a design and marketing communications agency.

New Needs, New Cameras

Reversing a years-long trend, U.S. camera sales have actually grown in the past year, as consumers developed new needs for capturing photos or videos during a pandemic that fundamentally changed how and where they spend their time.

The market not only rebounded for traditional digital cameras, but also for a variety of special use case cameras, such as action cameras and 360-degree cameras.

But what’s next when users will return to some form of ‘normal’ life? What are the new opportunities going forward for digital camera sales in various categories?

Join us for an informative fireside chat with Ben Arnold, Executive Director & Consumer Technology Industry Analyst at The NPD Group, to learn which digital camera categories are trending, what characteristics define today’s buyers, and which adjacent category items are benefiting from the camera sales uptick.

Show & Tell Judges: