CGI Alexandra Maier Director, marketing & communications – Media Solutions
Clear-Com John Sparrow Senior systems consultant/engineer
What was your biggest lesson in 2020? We can accomplish a lot digitally – more than we would have ever thought, internally and with our clients – but it doesn’t replace live meetings and networking opportunities. What was your proudest moment? Despite Covid-19, we have successfully integrated our SCISYS business into the big CGI world, more or less all virtually, but still fairly smoothly. What will December 2021 be like for your business? Hopefully, we can celebrate leaving a nasty pandemic behind and return to a new normal life; ‘new normal,’ as we expect our working behaviour to change for good, allowing more flexibility, eg to partially work from home or anywhere else, or to take advantage of virtual meetings, if travelling is not necessary. This protects the environment and is also efficient. Still, the chance to meet people in person again, where it makes sense, is exciting. What is the best thing to come out of this year? The solidarity among colleagues, realising that we are all in the same boat. Also the fact that while going virtual does work and is good for our environment, it isn’t
What was your biggest lesson in 2020? Learning how to work effectively from home: I had a head start because my work already had become home office based in August 2019, but 2020 took it to a whole new level. What was your proudest moment? Helping our regional sales managers with some very complex and technical tender responses and actually getting positive results. That makes you feel good. What will December 2021 be like for your business? Simply getting to the end of the year! Our executive team has been excellent at managing us through the pandemic, although we know it’s not over yet. What one piece of media tech do you wish someone would invent? A small, portable battery-powered internet radio receiver, not a phone app or DAB receiver, just internet radio. Then, I can listen to myself on the radio. Best thing(s) you watched this year? I really enjoyed Tales from the Loop on Amazon Prime earlier this year, the settings and graphics were great, and I loved Ford v Ferrari (also known as Le Mans ’66 in parts of Europe).
replacing personal meetings or interactions. We’ve realised how important hallway chats and coffee machine gossip are – the little things that cannot be covered by working remotely.
Broadcast Pix Graham Sharp CEO
What was your biggest lesson in 2020? Biggest lesson: you can’t plan for everything – over the last few years, businesses were expected to accurately forecast performance from quarter to quarter, but who could have foreseen the arrival and impact of Covid on most of our businesses? Life is like sailing – you know where you want to go, but you may have to zig-zag your way there. What was your proudest moment? The adaptability and resilience of our staff. We have managed to pivot our business to provide more streaming products, which has enabled us to maintain profitability and not have to lay anyone off.
business will have returned to some sort of normality by that time. What one piece of media tech do you wish someone would invent? I am not sure it is a single thing – what I would like is the tech industry to make products easier to use! In this work-from-home environment, we are all wasting huge amounts of time setting up technology: PCs and Macs, routers, cameras, multiple video conferencing systems, microphones and speakers – why aren’t they easy to install, configure and use? Not everyone is a network expert or PC expert! Best thing(s) you watched this year? The multiple funny kid/dog/cat/wife/grandma intrusions into business video conferences – hopefully, it is reminding us all that we are human and there is a life outside of business.
What will December 2021 be like for your business?
Hopefully a great year, as we have all learned how to live with the pandemic. There’s also the hope that
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