John Wilson, longstanding chairman of the International Broadcasting
Convention
(IBC) passed away last week at the age of 82. Wilson was the driving force
behind
the transformation of IBC from 1990 onwards, and can be regarded as the
architect of the convention as we know it today.
Prior to his work with IBC, Wilson had been a successful member of the business
community, finishing his career as sales director at Link Electronics and founding
a
displays business, Anna Valley.
By 1990 it had become clear that IBC, which had already been running for 23
years, moving from venue to venue as it expanded, had become limited by its
Brighton “home’, and Wilson recognised that to move it on to the next level it
needed a dramatic change in the way that it was run. With a new and
professional
management team it could take the message to a much larger stage. Many
people
were involved in this transition, but most people involved would freely admit
that
its success was due in very large measure to Wilson’s skills, contacts and vision.
