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The growth of an international video network, developed through the 1971 Video Exchange Directory, was tapped into by Vancouver organizers to create one of the first gatherings of international non-commercial, alternative video producers. The MATRIX International Video Exchange Conference was held in Vancouver in January 1973. Michael Goldberg, explained the choice of title this way:

"...to the title ‘MATRIX' the sense I get is that of a mesh, a variety of scattered points that inter-relate dynamically, in a spheroid rather than pyramidal pattern. It implies flexibility or randomness, like a telephone exchange, W.W.II searchlites over London, Ham Radio, or Geodesic Domes; if some of the lines are cut, the system can still function as a whole."

MATRIX was attended by 160 representatives of the exchange network. Delegates came from Europe, Japan, the United States, and Canada. The conference was held at Crown Memorial Church at 19th and Cambie and the festival at the Vancouver Art Gallery's original location on Georgia Street. The attendees played videotapes, exchanged information about their own projects and organizations, and discussed the most effective ways to move forward - debating whether a resource index of people and equipment and/or video libraries, should be established, whether there was a risk that the alternative video movement was focusing too much on the technology and not on what they were trying to communicate, and the strategies needed to challenge existing broadcast ownership structures and establish community cable and public access to broadcast.

The Vancouver Sun wrote that the international delegation was "a tribute to Vancouver’s reputation in this new field" and that Vancouver would "continue to play an important role in the esthetic and community use of video through the establishment of an international video library."

The MATRIX Report, distributed to delegates following the conference, formally announced that initiative:

"‘Video Inn’ is the name chosen for the community lending library we are establishing with the help of Canada Council grant. The MATRIX conference immediately and concretely furnished about 75 software dubs, which are now available for viewing at the Inn. The long term effect of MATRIX on exchange is difficult to determine. ..The development of the library will depend partly on the responses of producers and partly on our response to the communities we are trying to serve."

Sources:
Sources:
Crista Dahl Media Library & Archive
"Making Video 'In'", Editor Jennifer Abbott, Video In Studios, 2000.
"Anamnesia: Unforgetting", Editor Amy Kazymerchyk, VIVO Media Arts Centre, 2013.
Joan Lowndes, "Video Festival Proves Draw," Vancouver Sun, January 22, 1973, p29.
"The Matrix Kit", 1973

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MATRIX Registration Form: Inter-Action, London, England
1972
Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

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MATRIX Registration Form: Women's Media, Vancouver, Canada
1972
Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

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Responses to a solicitation of interest in the MATRIX Conference.
1972
Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

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Paul Wong: The MATRIX Conference
2013
VIVO Media Arts Centre, 1965 Main Street, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

Credits:
Interviewer: Kevin Doherty
Cameraperson: Anna MacDonald
Editor: Kevin Doherty
Transcription: Kevin Doherty

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MATRIX: Vancouver Art Gallery Marquee
January 1973
The Vancouver Art Gallery, 1145 Georgia Street, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

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MATRIX Festival participants
January 1973
The Vancouver Art Gallery, 1145 Georgia Street, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

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MATRIX Festival: Steve Paxton performance
January 1973
The Vancouver Art Gallery, 1145 Georgia Street, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

Credits:
Photo: Kazumi Tanaka

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MATRIX Festival: crocheting videotape
January 1973
The Vancouver Art Gallery, 1145 Georgia Street, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

Credits:
Photo: Kazumi Tanaka

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MATRIX: Howard Broomfield records the sounds of the conference
January 1973
Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

Credits:
Photo: Kazumi Tanaka

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Howard Broomfield letter, Page 1
1973
Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

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Howard Broomfield letter, Page 2
1973
Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

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Cover: MATRIX booklet
1973
Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

Credits:
Cover design: Paula Wainberg

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Back cover: MATRIX booklet
1973
Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

Credits:
Photo: Kazumi Tanaka