History of the IMUG

The first real precursor to IMUG get togethers was in 1996 when about 30 or 40 people met up at the Media 100 booth and collectively invaded the Benihana's at the Hilton. That's where many of the people then on the list like Rob Birnholz, Tom Valens, Tom Hergert and Ron Lindeboom as well as Media 100's first Customer Advocate Marriana Morley met (in person!) for the first time. Most people knew each other either from the AOL Media 100 forum or the then new Shockwave Media 100 list. Technically it was really a "WWUG" event, which at the time stood for World Wide Media 100 Users Group. T-Shirts created by WWUG founder Ron Lindeboom still exist today in the dark recesses of some listers closets!

Then in 1997 Media 100 User Don Lennox created a simple page of who was going to NAB and where they were staying. This resulted in about 20-30 Media 100 users gathering together at various times throughout the week to enjoy one another’s company and to discuss our use of the system.

Although the name IMUG did not officially come into use until mid 1998 the first 'real' IMUG event at the Rio Hotel during NAB '98 came from a simple idea of a few of us meeting up for some beers. It then grew to epic proportions when Carey Dissmore and Chuck Fazio ran with the idea and created what proved to be an invaluable resource in helping those who were going, and even those who were not, get more out of the NAB experience. The activities and plans escalated and were refined to two major events with a combined attendence in excess of 500 persons. These two events provided many opportunities for users, vendors and manufacturer representatives to meet and greet and exchange ideas. Over 30,000 dollars in prizes and promotional products was distributed to users via drawings and giveaways. The web audience was able to join in during webcam and IRC events, and to listen in to the keynote speeches and Q&A from our roundtable event. All in all, everyone agreed that this was the best NAB ever for the media user community.

Summer '98 brought the Siggraph convention and another opportunity for an IMUG event. In light of the fact that Siggraph doesn’t draw as many Media Users as NAB, and in response to user requests for a more intimate gathering of users and manufacturers, the IMUG, along with cooperation from Craig Birkmaier of PCube labs hosted the "Siggraph Soiree", a poolside gathering that was attended by about 55 people and was very well attended by Media 100 staff and execs from other related companies such as Videonics, Heuris, Forge, Rorke Data and more.

On January 11, 1999, Chuck Fazio submitted his resignation as co-chair of the IMUG. He cited the demands of his new aviation business and his career’s general trend away from video production as reasons for his resignation. Carey Dissmore continued as the Chairman of the IMUG, and formed a strong leadersgip team of Media 100 Users to advise and contribute in the direction of the IMUG and planning and execution of events.

NAB '99 was another successful NAB event for the IMUG. The IMUG @ NAB '99 event was host to approximately 300 of the industries' finest. Over $43,000 worth of prizes were awarded at this event! REELFEST '99 was also our most successful release to date, running 2 full hours, it was chock full of the best work of our great user community.

IMUG @ NAB 2000 continued the tradition of past IMUG events and was even bigger and better and now firmly part of Media Users calendars from all around the globe.

Sadly after several years at the helm Carey Dissmore decided to step down as Chairman of the IMUG citing that the role had simply become too big for a single person to handle. Carey however remains a committed member of the IMUG organizing team. In 2001 Carey passed the mantle to the IMUG's two new 'Co-Chairs' Steve Kahn and Steve Griffiths or 'Steves squared' as they have become known.

2001 was another successful event. With the re-introduction of live music the atmosphere was a relaxed party mood. Sponsors contributed over $45,000 worth of prizes.

Of course the 2002 event was another success and 2003 saw the event evolve into the MediaMotion Ball with members of the MediaMotion.TV - AE-list community also invited. Since then the MediaMotion Ball has become THE NAB event to attend on the Monday night during the convention. Anyone working within the digital production community is welcome. The MediaMotion Ball attracts attendees from countries as diverse as Sweden, The United Kingdom, Australia, Germany, Canada, New Zealand, Japan, The Netherlands and more. We also have many attendees from online forums and existing groups like PixelCorps, LAFCPUG, SF Cutters, Postforum, DMN Forums etc.

Why Events?

While most of our IMUG members communicate daily via online listservs and private e-mail, we believe strongly in the synergy that is created when users and company representatives get together, in person, to exchange information and ideas. This is accomplished with the greatest success in a social setting. We feel that our events provide the infrastructure for these interactions. The benefit is increased and improved communication with users and 3rd party vendors to interact, and plenty of good will to be exchanged. We believe that this results in improved products, increased sales for participating companies, and greatly increases the overall satisfaction of the user base.

...Oh and we also have a fantastic time! See you there in 2008, 2009. 2010, 2011, 2012.............!

Note to old friends: