Summary of NAB Show - Vegas 09

Sorry this has taken me so long to get posted, got back to the day job and all hell broke loose. I'm debating about posting on some of these struggles as they may not be seen in a favorable light but damn it these topics need to discussed. It’s like seeing someone drowning in the hotel pool from your 16th floor window but no one will listener or even go look. But I digress back to this post, the NAB.

First things first, damn we are behind the times as Americans, from 3DHD TV to holography or interactive TV in Brazil; simply put the world is blowing by us. Personally I blame our TV’s; American's are in love with their TV's and will watch about anything (the automobile has been replaced IMHO). Meanwhile the rest of the world is learning to program in C++ and building the technology of tomorrow. We have to begin to close this gap or the consequences could be far reaching.

Second, walking the aisles of the convention floor you were struck by those clinging to the past and those building for the future. My favorite example was this one intersection where on one corner you had a clock booth, across from this was a booth that could construct a radio or TV tower for you, which was across from a booth that was building canned streaming content which was across from a light manufacture for towers. I stood there and was stuck by the thought that for sure 2 of 4 will not be there in 10 years and the clock guy might even be in trouble (the content booth could also see its end quickly as the content was crappy at best). The difference was stark and real. But I would say this is not much different than our industry; unfortunately there are too many more clinging and not enough building!

My next observation from the NAB was more about the conversation going on around me; everyone was talking about the economy. Many who have attended the NAB year after year said this was one of the least attended shows they had been to. There was space on the floor and many only came for a day or two if they did attend. While I understand this is economics I also find it a referendum on broadcast media once again. Why at the time when broadcast media needs to be the most nibble and engaged in new technology is the major show for this exact purpose not being attended? For the cost travel savings of a grand or getting 32 more hours logged at the office....... No, the truth is most are not engaged and many are only nibble in the boardroom. The NAB was another example of how reinvention is a much bantered line in the industry but rarely followed business principal. I thought major newspapers folding up around the country would have set off warning sirens but it’s clear now that the industry players will either have to get damn lucky or go the way of the dinosaurs which personally pains me to no end.

My final observations are quick bullet points and tips:
-Don't ever stay at Paris in Vegas if you are on business or just in general. Service was very French (can we please drop the act when it comes to service), they were running jamming within the hotel so my wireless card would not work (which also jammed my cell phone unless dancing in the window while touch my nose to the ceiling), and Avon was holding their convention at the same time. Don't know what is older than a cougar but know I got hit on by a couple. Overall FAIL for you Paris Vegas, I'll never be back!
-Just because you get on the Vegas monorail 45 minutes before you are suppose to be anywhere doesn't mean you won't be late. Got stuck (think packed, standing room only tram car) for more than 45 minutes and the guys from Christie Technology had their presentation at 9AM and where stuck with me till 9:20. Luckily I was standing with one of the funniest dudes on the planet. This guy was riot but in the mad scramble when we were finally freed I never got a card. So if the guy who had the Zoolander laptop from Japan reads this, please get in contact!
-Vegas has got to be where coffee lovers go to die. Trying to find a good cup of joe around there is next to impossible.
-Special shout out to Small Plate Radio, if you have not checked Doug and Kyle's project out please do. These guys are bringing radio back to the foundation it was built on; damn good content. It was great to rap with them on their radio show and meet the rest of their team. You need content or a show idea, please get in touch with them.
-Technologies that caught my eye while there in no order in particular, AstroTV- Brazilian interactive TV, MediaFlo- more interactive TV by Qualcomm, NiCT- 3D HD, 3D Audio & holography and MobiClip- make your video consumable on mobile devices.
-One of my show favorites was talking with Jenni of JenniRadio. She is a 9 year old girl who has her own radio show and interviews Tween and Teen stars like crazy. The kid is amazing and I look forward to hearing about her career in the years to come.

I also spoke on a panel about text messaging for our provider Hip Cricket (this is actually how I got to go to the show, if it wasn’t for this I would have been logging the hours). It was a blast to speak on this subject. Hip Cricket setup a text to screen application so people could text their questions. The hilarious part about this is that it become very clear quickly those who were believers and those who were the naysayers. My favorite question was “Can we afford text messaging, I hear its expensive”, my answer, can you afford not to. Seriously text messaging is a win/win for broadcast media and should have been adopted 3 years ago in my opinion. The team from Hip Cricket is a buttoned down team of who were great to interact with, my thanks to them for having me.

Well that is my recap, hope you found it helpful. Next year I will make sure that I have my video camera so I can share this more real time (I took it this year but long story about why it did not hold juice). If you have questions or comments please feel free, love to get some more interaction going on here.