Infocomm 12 - Rock Soup

Pardon the Bold format here folks... The post was written in MS Word when I did not have access to my online tools *sigh* .  For some reason the MS formatting is being read as bold and is STICKY as hell. 

Infocomm has wrapped up and if my facebook feed is to be believed even the largest booths have been packed away in crates and are well on the way home. The pictures of tired but obviously satisfied faces with a drink in hand tell you all you need to know.  This show went without a hitch and 34,268 -up 4%!-  found good food, lodging and business deals.

Now, thousands of products were exhibited on the show floor - .  You can find reports on nearly every one in nauseating detail from great industry news outlets like System Contractor, PLSN and many, many others.  rAVe Pubs also did a fine job video documenting nearly every booth on the floor and have them posted in a handy, searchable site.  

To save you time I am going to boil down the main elements for you in seven points

What was Infocomm 2012 all about?  

1). Simplification

 You have heard of multiplication or perhaps even anticipation (it’s making me waa -a-a-it) but Infocomm this year was all about making things “Simpler”, “Easy”, “little ramp up time to operation” and “With in House staff in mind”. These common catch phrases spun as revelatory exclamations seem to show that manufacturers and developers finally understand that interface matters.

There is a darker side to all this happy ‘we get you’ preoccupation with making set up, controls and configuration as easy as a three fingered salute.  I have to ask at what the root catalyst for this sudden interest in implementing the Wizards cry to Dorothy “Pay no attention to that man behind the screen!”.  Are we giving up on the need for basic understanding of the physics and simple mechanics because they are no longer needed for standard operation or because we can no longer find the  personnel  who can or are willing to dig deep?

Certainly the industry is ch-ch- changing but is it for the right reason?  We have a serious youth deficit in this industry, doubly so for the Event Staging world, is this the way to get them into the fold, by bypassing all the hard knowledge stuff ?

2. iPad

Apps  are still everywhere but no one is hysterically shouting about them from booth rigging. Yes they are a good thing. Yes they make things more flexible and, well let's admit it, sexy. Thankfully they appear to have become standard accessories not above or beyond actual equipment.

3. Speaking of hysterical nonsense

 Thank <enter deity name of choice here, or null> -  that 3D is only a footnoted specification now.  Last year in Orlando attempting to avoid the clamour of 3D from any booth was akin to trying to enter a vegas hotel without having to claw your way through the forest of slot machines, blue smoke one could cut with a bowie knife and over eager cocktail waitresses.  If you read my Twitter rants or listen to the AV NationTV podcasts with any regularity -you know just how enamoured with 3D I am.  Oh Muybridge! Up Yours (with apologies to Polystyrene)

4). HD over Structured Wiring

 AV over “Cat 5” was everywhere - or should I say HDBaseT was ubiquitous under various and sundry names throughout the show floor.  For Installations folks the era of UTP / STP as THE wire for everything is now nearly at hand. Another shake up in the wire biz is due soon as fewer and fewer cable types are used.  I wonder what pseudoscience babble Monster Cable will start using to market theirs.

5). IATSE Booth

Before anyone starts with me, I love the folks involved with IATSE- some of my best friends are IATSE members. Yet the large set aside space with a stage and chairs never seemed to have any activity in it. Perhaps I was on a  different schedule or something happened while I was recording AV Social or the Live Life. I spent a good deal of time in the ‘Lighting and Staging’ section and never saw anything beyond a few folks eating.

The eerie atmosphere reminded me of the a scene in the book  Travels with Charley  by John Steinbeck. The book is part travel journal, part memoir and part  literary extension of   Kerouac’s  On The Road, it is the story of his travels across the United States with his dog Charley. Steinbeck wrote the book while living in Sag Harbor Long Island, (My Home Town!) which is also where he wrote the Winter of Our Discontent - but that is another tale altogether. Early on in the book, while he is traveling through deep Vermont Steinbeck comes upon a fully lit and operating roadside cafe but it is empty of people. After waiting for half an hour he decides to get behind the counter and cook his own breakfast which he eat and cleans up after.  With still no one showing he leaves money for  his meal and moves on.   

I really wanted to have some folks on the Live Life podcast but since I could not find anyone in the “booth” the opportunity was lost.  If anyone from the organization is reading this, we would love to have you on a future show!

6). AV NationTV

Rocked with our first Live broadcasts of  The Daily Rave, AV Week, AV Social and The Live Life.  Our Broadcast table, in the front of the rAVe booth drew crowds of regular listeners and many new ones. We had a fantastic time chatting with integrators, press, Infocomm staff  and lots and lots of exhibitors.  When the recorded versions of the shows post I will update here with links.   

7). Finally

Speaking of AV NationTV, we want you for the AV Nation Army- Join us by suggesting topics, guests or even joining us on air as a panelist. We started the network but it is for and about our industry - it can only grow when we work together.

All in all it was a great show. I am unclear if anything really new came out of this show but I found it informative and a great networking opportunity. In the last hours of the exhibit I kept thinking about the story of Rock soup. It may not have started out as much but it was damn tasty in the end with all the help.   Hope to see you all in Orlando next year!

 

 

… and now a word about my hotel room.

After  a day of looking over the finest audio visual gear our industry can provide all racked and wired to in an immaculate manner, it is even more apparent how poorly wired my hotel room is.

I do not want to sound petty here, the room is paid for by my employer and I am grateful for the opportunity to attend and find grab hands on the products I need – and may not have known I needed-  to solve existing and future projects.   It is a room and a fairly well-appointed one at that.

Yet… why would you have an AC outlet like this in the room?

Why would you allow the flat panel monitor feed to mounted like this?
And what is with the Knotted Ethernet cable – That just has to hurt. 

Or leave proof of a mistaken mounting 

 

 

Even my ironing board looks like a second stringer.

 

Now before folks think I am actually staying at the local by the hour dive in the naked city know that the Westin Folks are very accommodating and friendly.   I also really like that this hotel has the single smallest casino floor in Las Vegas – it actually may be smaller than the ones in Punta Cana resorts.   No having to run the gauntlet of slot machines, blue smoke of cigarettes and over eager cocktail waitresses.  It is soothingly quaint and un- Vegas like.   

 

 

 

 Although my much ballyhoooed "City View" upgrade looks much  better at night when the dazziling lights in the background obscure the foreground. 

Another positive is that the monorail station is right across the street -  love the monorail ( a great deal for getting around the main strip and to and from the convention center). Still,  I just feel like I am staying in a local AV installer’s spare room where all of the unfinished project are stored.

 

Update:  June 20, 2012

A few days ago the Westin sent me a survey to complete.  I dutifully filled out the agree, disagree, strongly disagree radio button selections and when asked filled out the text boxes to explain in more detail I let it all hang out and even provided a link to this post for clearer explanation and photographic evidence.   To reiterate - the hotel was nice and the staff super helpful, I just took issue with the half done appearance of the room. 

I am happy to report that I received an email in response- yes an actual email not a form letter. 

Dear Mr. Tucker,

Thank you for choosing the Westin Las Vegas Hotel, Casino & Spa for your recent visit to Las Vegas. We received your opinions on our Satisfaction Survey regarding your latest experience with us. Your recent feedback certainly assists us with our continuous efforts as our team strives to offer exceptional service and amenities to our guests.

I have reviewed the comments you posted, along with the photos. They have been forwarded on to my General Manager and Director of Engineering. I am pleased to announce the Hotel is currently undergoing a much needed, major renovation project, where our rooms and the amenities offered around the property are being upgraded and refreshed. We are also having the entire property updated with the latest in wireless technology. Please rest assured your concerns have been addressed and will not be reoccurring incidents in the future.

In spite of our best efforts we do occasionally make mistakes and for this we truly apologize. We hope that you will allow us an opportunity in the future to change your outlook of our property by visiting us during your future trips to Las Vegas. Please feel free to contact me directly should you have any further thoughts or concerns.

Evolve and Inspire,

Amanda Rodriguez
Guest Experience Team Leader

Working in Social as I do this was a great response!  It is also good to know that the Westin does not see itself as just a Motel 6 gussied up in a ball gown for the evening. Thank you for letting me (and my readers) know that you listen and do care.  Would I recommend the hotel to others?  Perhaps, it does have one thing the other mega monstrosities do not - a lobby casino that does not assault you with a cacophony of ringing, dinging, bleeping slot machines. This is a major plus in my book any day. 

 

Salvation From My Own Stupidity

And on the second day of the show new discoveries were made.   Indeed yesterday was a day of finds at Infocomm 12  -Here are just a few:

• My Android calendar does not seem willing to update my appointments to local time, although the reminder notifications do.  I found this out the hard way by getting my sorry sleep deprived buttocks out of bed and down to the show floor at 7:30 am to attend a booth tour that was actually scheduled for 10:30am, with the WorldStage crew.  This led me to discovery number 2


• Infocomm 12 has a North Hall.   Yeah, shocking right? I, of course knew that the show was spread over two halls – at least somewhere in my hazy head the information was there but dammed if my little grey cells were going to give this tidbit of knowledge without a fight at 7:15am.  I wandered around the central hall for about 10 min in what I presumed to be the ‘projection ‘ area  until my ID finally came on line and demanded to know what the actual booth number I should be making my way to
  
   
  

Unlike the rest of the manufactures Projection exhibitors are NOT grouped into one area of the show floor.  In point of fact a great many of them are completely across the main lobby – so any inclination of just following your nose whilst walking the floor should be thrown right out the door

 

The Infocomm show app is the best product of the entire show, hands down.  I downloaded the app a few days prior to arriving in Lost Wages but had not made much time to investigate its features.  It is a god send, literally the  Deus ex machina  that makes the entire show truly accessible.  The response I had to finally opening it was nearly the same epiphany that occurred when I switched from Twitter’s web based client to Tweet Dyck – FINALLY it made sense and became infinitely more useful.    The App lets you search for manufactures booth gives updates on events and news as well as a My Location feature that shows you how to get from point A to point B.  Brilliant!

 

 

 

 

Of Personal Seizures and Mispronunciations

 

The Live Life show went broadcast its very first live stream yesterday afternoon and it was a hoot.  I am still new to the webcasting, hosting thing and have begun to feel a bit more comfortable with recoding the show over Skype from my room, alone.  I thought that I had really overcome my butterfly moments with ‘talking in public but goin’ live is a whole other beast. 

Normally the podcast has a very specific theme or topic – media servers, rigging, etc- and I usually have days if not a week to come up to speed on a topic. Or at least to know enough to ask the dumb questions but the theme of Infocomm is, well Infocomm.  We had decided early on to make the theme of the show the exhibitors and specifically those who relate to the event staging industry.   While we reached out to a number of folks who had previously been on episodes of ‘The Live Life’ we also wanted to find other booths which related to the industry but may not get the press of adjoining 300Lb gorillas.  This required some serious foot work and scheduling and to make it even more fun the way the show is set up limits just who and what is defined as ‘staging related’  and contained within the grey rugs.  Some like Chvet Lighting  were there as to be expected but Speaker Arrays and professional audio desks are over in the red carpet and projection and media servers  require hiking boots and some water bottles to get to. 

This became the overriding theme of the show as it turns out.  Midori Connely of Pulse Staging is on the cusp of being elected to head the committee on the Lighting and Staging portion of the show and discussed some initiatives she would like to implement immediately. 

In keeping with the desire to get some unsung but essential voices on the show we had the good fortune to have about 15 exhibitors spend some time with us, discuss their offerings and chat about the larger effect their services and products have in the everyday success of shows.

This is also where my penchant for massacring names amused and confused my co-hosts and panelist alike.  *sigh* I am terrible with names and unless I have time to spell them out phonetically it can be a truly horrific, and funny , car wreck to witness.   It also appears that in my attempt to wave over people and say hello to associates, former co-workers and friends while not interrupting the show flow made some of the panelist think I was experiencing small seizures.  I am thinking that we can make this a show at  the Westin Las Vegas – maybe we can open for the Red Skelton homage  that plays there now.  

 

 

Moses and Hannibal walk into a Bar

“I love it when a plan comes together” -  John  “Hannibal” Smith, A-Team.

You know how it is, despite your best efforts to pour over the show floor maps and make your tradeshow travels as efficient as possible, Day one always forces a change in plans and to paths less traveled. 

Yesterday was indeed the social show and thankfully I am not a germaphobe  or I would still be scrubbing my hands with brillo pads as I felt my walk about the show floor was one long hockey handshake.  Everyone – from attendees to exhibitors wanted to chat but not necessarily about the products.  Indeed there was the eventual emergence of the sales personality from deep within the tormented psyche of the booth staff but this was a gradual process, no Jekyll and Hyde here.

Could this be a macro influence of social media?  One would like to think that all of the talking head chatter about engagement,  outreach and natural voices has finally changed  the perception of what it means to ‘act professional’

Part of this may be due in some small part to the methods and reporting of the rAVe Pubs folks whose diligent efforts cover and record every single booth at the show. Part of the pressure is off, PR folks can use videos as reference and focus on delivering the message, not creating every part of it.  Booth staff can focus on building relationships with clients, not hammer us over the head like simple customers.

Within this happy din AV Social broadcast a live stream of the show  (Episode 6! Whoa)  out in the middle of the main lobby on Wednesday –( a recording of the show will be posted to the rAVe AV Nation site shortly) – this was social as social does.  The experience was both invigorating and daunting all at the same moment.  Normally we record the AV Nation shows from the comfort of our respective offices or homes via a Skype connection.   While our regular shows have a feeling of comfort and coziness – this was a whole new ballgame.   The cast was up on a small dais as attendees passed by or stopped to listen for a bit or ask a question.  Nearly all of us, cast and guest panelists alike constantly caught the eye of associates, co-workers, friends and a few family members.  We were finally not just talking to you but with you.  Freaking  awesome.

The Women in AV hosted a very fun Tweetup at the Los Vegas Hilton with a great turnout of folks some old friends but especially nice were all the newcomers.   To be honest I was all ready to end the evening there, head off to some room service, gentle tea and much needed sleep.  Yeah, thank Hannibal.

A few hours later I found myself, quite lucidly – no really, wandering the long freakish avenues of the Bellagio in search of food with a gang of six.  I would like to say that we rolled the wide paths of gold and faux Italian marble like hipsters on the prowl but the heavy bags of computers and show tags kyboshed any hope of that.  I was personally carrying an SLR, a great swag bag from Panasonic (pictures to be added later) , my rAVe bloggers thank you package and of course the albatross of Polyphemus  (my Dell XPS 17” laptop) around my neck.  It started out with such hope, like Moses leading his people out of Egypt, I also felt like we traveled through the desert.  The turns and twists and going up to go down had me so turned around that if not for the hysterical banter of my companions I would have sat down to bake some unleavened bread.   

Finally back at home base of my Hotel room I did take some tea and curl up under the covers with the air conditioner on full blast, the window shades open to a city scape and mountains framing it all in the background.

Oh, the gear?   Yeah, we looked at a bit of that too, we will be recording a Live stream of the Live Life today – check to hear some of the exhibitors describe this year’s offerings and some insight from our panelists.  

 

 

 

#Infocomm12, How do I love thee?

So here I find myself in the most unlikely of places - The City of Lost Wages NV.  I am here to celebrate the Audio Visual industry and to kick off AV NationTV’s coming out party.   Like my associate Matt Scott I love trade shows.  I love the dynamics, the press of bodies, equipment and the hands-on handshake experience.  

Truly this is how I view my beloved AV industry – A living breathing, evolving organism, a life that is alive! 

                     

In short I Love you AV industry,  It is a love that I never dared to seek but you found me and because of this you have become an inseperable part of me. I cannot conceive of a life, myself without you.

 

                     

How much do I love thee?  I only need to count one way – you have managed to get me to travel to Las Vegas to celebrate you.  This town, so full of fear and loathing that the air itself is dense with the machinations of greed and gluttony that it creates the impulse in me to barricade the door, drawn the blinds  and become a Howard Hughes shut in and wait out the end of times – or at least the show.  It is a city of snake oil salesmen who settled down with cement shoes.

I love thee AV Industry, so much so that I will bite my tongue and enjoy this time together much like watching “The Housewives of…” shows with my wife – it is not where we are but that we are doing it together.