At least a dozen people had Apple laptops and iPads stolen during a break at the annual conference in Hollywood, says Barbara Lange, SMPTE executive director. The LAPD continues to investigate the incident.
SMPTE Attendees Have Laptops, iPads Stolen
At least a dozen people had laptops and iPads stolen at the 2013 SMPTE Annual Technical Conference Monday in Hollywood, says Barbara Lange, SMPTE executive director.
The equipment was allegedly stolen during a break following a conference program at the Loews Hollywood Hotel in the late morning, says Lange. More than 200 people were in attendance.
“We are devastated by all of this,” Lange says. “Certainly, it’s not something we would have expected. This was obviously a black eye for the event today, but we’re going to continue as normal. We have some great programs scheduled throughout the week.”
The Los Angeles Police Department interviewed all victims and are continuing to investigate the incident. As of publication, the LAPD media office was unable to comment for this story.
Lange says the majority of electronic equipment stolen were Apple laptops and iPad tablets. Apple includes a security feature on iPads and iPhones that lets users track down their device using its built-in GPS, but victims were unable to get the feature to work.
“Whoever did this, did so in a very orchestrated fashion,” says Lange. “They knew what they were doing.”
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Those affected by the robbery had their conference registration fees reimbursed, Lange says.
The SMPTE conference runs through Thursday. Lange predicts the conference could experience near-record high attendance.
Comments (2)
Ellen Samrock says:
October 21, 2013 at 7:04 pm
A nasty little by-product of TV everywhere and the second screen; having your device stolen. Since they’re all Apple devices hopefully the owners have set up iCloud so that the Find My Mac and Find My iPad software will help them locate their stolen property and nab the thieves.
Wagner Pereira says:
October 21, 2013 at 8:10 pm
This is not the first time as it has happened countless times for years now when attendees leave the hotel meeting room unoccupied and have lunch in another room. That leaves no security in the meeting room and personal items open to theft. Even if they claim to lock the doors the attendees enter and exit by, the service doors in the back are seldom locked. I’ve heard of a number of Company meetings with as few as a dozen people ending the same way. Bottom line, sadly, never leave valuable personal items out of sight in a hotel conference room, even if you are assured the room will be locked.