NAB in Las Vegas, 2008

I recently traveled to Las Vegas, for the annual National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) convention. More than 100,000 people come in from all over the world. Despite the questionable economy, the convention was packed.

We ran our first NAB-week event this year, at the Monte Carlo. This was a reception co-sponsored by Adobe, B&H, Canon, Sony Recording Media, and TEAC. The event went well, but the hotel presented us with some interesting challenges, like locking the doors. We won’t be back there again.

We also presented our annual Product Innovation awards, and you can see the whole list at http://www.4evergroup.org/.

I was invited to participate in a meeting with representatives from Canon. There were five or six representatives from Japan in that meeting (see photo), and waiting for things to be translated back-and-forth was somewhat entertaining.

NAB was, as usual, a great opportunity to build and improve business relationships. One of the big players in this industry is Avid. Right after NAB last year, they had a round of layoffs. Our principal contact, Linda Croson, was one of the people laid off. I was standing in line for coffee, and there was Linda, standing in front of me. Turns out that about a month after being laid off, she was hired by Sony. So that worked out fine for her.

NAB Wrap Up

That week went by incredibly fast. It was an outstanding week for The 4EVER Group, as we met with many vendors and made plans for their participation in our events and activities. We saw old friends throughout the week, and made new ones as well. We even got to watch as vendors punked each other during their presentations.

Let’s start with a couple of random sports notes. Tony Gwynn was at the Sony booth on Monday, autographing baseballs and posing for pictures. Tony was pretty much mobbed during the time he was there. One of our well-known presenters, Randy Stubbs, is a huge Padres fan, so I was able to get an extra autographed ball for him. Last night, we saw Pete Rose at a table in a memorabilia shop. Other than the store employees who were having their picture taken with him, Pete was all alone. It made for an interesting contrast.

Clearly, The 4EVER Group has made an impact with the vendors. Going into our third year, we’ve been sought out by some, and others could not have been more willing to get on board with us. Keep an eye out for those new developments within the next few weeks.

The continuing growth in the relationships we have with the vendors is the best result from this conference. My business card pile is probably smaller than in years past, but it was very targeted: Adobe, Anton/Bauer, Apple, Audio-Technica, Avid Blackmagic Design, Canon, Grass Valley, JVC, NewBay Media, Panasonic, Sennheiser, Sony, the Vitec Group and Zylight were among the many vendors we met with. We can’t count on all of them participating in every part of The 4EVER Group’s programming, we’ll certainly see them involved at some level.

So it’s an afternoon flight home, to be followed by a weekend of catching up on stuff at home. I’m hoping that the airport lines are back to what passes for normal today.

NAB in Las Vegas

I’m currently in Las Vegas with more than 100,000 industry associates for the National Association of Broadcasters convention. It’s the best opportunity in our industry to meet the people we need, to see the gear that’s new, and to have some fun with old friends from everywhere.

Before I go further, a quick note about the awful shootings at Virginia Tech. With a son in college, it hits close to home. Although I haven’t been able to take in enough of the coverage to develop any conclusions, our thoughts and prayers go out to the Virginia Tech community.

Back here in Vegas, I’ve already gotten to see some really cool new tools. NewTek unveiled a production switcher that has built-in virtual sets. That piece will be shipping by the summer. Sony introduced a camera that records to a flash card, priced for our market. Sony says the camera will be available late this year. Adobe continued to show its new CS3 suite, which is an amazing editing solution that’s been used in major motion pictures (The Departed) and TV commercials (the Chevrolet ads with the flying trucks).

We’re staying at the Sahara. I won tickets to see The Amazing Jonathan the other night, and he’s still very funny. The Sahara itself has seen better days.

Today will be all about meetings, starting with one at 9am (what was I thinking?). I even have a couple of podcast interviews scheduled for the afternoon. I guess that means I need to get out of here. Stay tuned for more from Las Vegas.