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Below is a list of recently added sessions and news, along with an insightful history of the Summit provided by Loren Price

Summit in Sedona Incentive:
Register a friend before Oct 22, 2004 and get a new Kaidan Kiwi panhead, a $199.95 value! Offer is only good for new registers between Oct 1 and Oct 22.

New sessions:
QTVR on Handhelds, PDF Delivery of QTVR, and Stock Options. VR on Mobile Device's is an expanding market. Ken Turkowski will demonstrate how you can do this with Kinoma . Bob Connolly of BCPictures will show you how to make PDF Delivery of QTVR work properly. Bob is using it successfully for several car companies’ brochures in Canada. Stock Options will cover using images for stock. Ben Chambers of CGI Backgrounds will discuss how they have been able to market backgrounds to ad agencies and clients as stock. The stock market for panoramas is growing and CGI Backgrounds has established a foothold in this up and coming market. They are looking for experienced photographers to partner with and would like to talk to you if you are interested.

Steven Gulie will be joining us in Sedona for a session on "QuickTime for the Web". Steven is the author of "QuickTime for the Web, 3rd Edition".

Harry Liles will be the moderator of the Educators sessions. Harry is an instructor at Brooks Institute of Photography in Santa Barbara, CA. Harry would like to ask the educators to bring any materials and examples of QTVR projects they would like to have reviewed or presented. Email: Hliles[at]brooks[dot]edu

Jim Anders of Kaidan announced that the company will be unveiling a number of new products at the Summit, along with providing some incredible deals to attendees.

Giveaways:
Loren Price announced daily draws for gear and software, courtesy of Bogen, Kaidan, Realviz and VR Toolbox! There will also be a silent auction on Wednesday evening.

History of the IQTVRA Summit:
Dennis and I [Loren Price] would like to explain how the Summit came about and how we operate.

Five years ago, Dennis had a number of people ask about doing a three-day conference that had more details and time than what he was doing with his 1/2 day Nuts & Bolts of QTVR seminars. At first, he thought that he could do something in the Chicago area over a weekend. Then he thought it would be nicer if it were in a picturesque place...like Sedona. Then he met with Terry Breheny and Terry talked him into having it in Boulder, which is where Terry was moving. So that's where the first Summit was held.

One of the things that Dennis and I wanted to do is make the Summit better for the speakers. Having been speakers for several conferences, one our pet peeves was the compensation; there was none, so to speak. All we got was a limited pass and an expensive hotel bill. And the producers were charging $1000 a head and having it at 5-star hotels that charged $200+ a night. And it was our responsibility to pay for the airfare as well. Let me see... what's wrong with this picture?

Having said that, we offer most of our speakers a room and travel reimbursement. This year, we are asking them to do 2-3 sessions each. There are a few speakers that have one session and will get some sort of honorarium.

The way we look at it, we are asking these people to teach us about specific things that we would like to master. What we are doing is pooling everyone's money to pay for the speakers’ time and experience, and hosting it in a nice setting.

Sponsorships help to offset some of the other expenses and give the sponsors a way of connecting with their target audience. As you will find out at this years Summit, several new products were developed from ideas that came about at previous Summits, even thought there have only been two.

We could have it at a really cheap facility that lacks a number of the amenities we have come to expect. It would require a lot more work on our part and that having it at a nice hotel is much more convenient for our small staff. The staff consists of Dennis, his sister Doreen, Cliff VanMeter, and myself. There are a couple of other people that work with us at the conference like Donna Blochwitz and Michael Quan.

Plus, I do not think cheap facilities would have the ambiance for the after-hours get-togethers that are one of the main benefits of the Summit's. This is where we sit around and talk VR and try out different things, like Jook's time-in-motion VR from last year.

So far, it hasn't been very profitable for Dennis. He has been financially responsible for the Summits and the success of this year's Summit can get him back to even. That is our hope and I think we are well on the road to achieving that goal.

I know a number of people believe that we should reduce the cost of the Summit so that more people can attend. But the drawback to that idea is that it would not be the same kind of experience. We also looked at what the going rate is for these types of conferences and thought that the prices we are charging right now are below the average conference fee. We also wanted to make it more beneficial for members of the IQTVRA. That's why there is such a discrepancy between the member and non-member rates.

But the people that believe this have never been to a Summit yet. Until they do, they don't understand the value in what we are offering. We do NOT want to get any bigger than we are. Our concern is that if we got any bigger than 150 attendees, we think it would lose a lot of the ambiance that a small group has over a big group. The conferences that I have attended where there were 500+ attendees seemed no different than high school, you just get lost and don't make any real connections with the exception of a few.

One way we know we are doing the right thing is by the number of returning attendees. And what we hear from everyone after the Summit's is all positive. Most of you know this because this is your second or third Summit.

We look forward to seeing everyone at Sedona soon. We are less than 90 days away from the Summit in Sedona. If you have any questions about what we are doing, please email me privately and I will answer your questions.

I also think we should thank Dennis for his perseverance in keeping up his commitment to the Summits. [Well said Loren. Kudos to Dennis Biela!!]
Here’s the PDF of the current schedule and speakers (3 megs).