NAB2005- Who's going?
 

Hi, sorry if this is the wrong area to make this thread in but I just signed up for NAB2005 and was wondering who I might see there? It would be interesting to see some of my fellow DVInfo-ers there =).

This is the right area, Jack, and I appreciate the thread. I will be there, planning right now on Monday thru Wednesday. Tuesday night is going to be busy -- Douglas Spotted Eagle has an after-show mixer which will happen at the LVCC in one of the meeting rooms, at the same time there's the Charles McConathy DV Cafe (formerly the ProMax DV Cafe) over at the Stardust. I have never missed that event in the past, but I don't want to miss Spot's deal either, so it looks like I'll be hustling from his mixer over to the Stardust to catch a little of both. Right now I have nothing committed to Monday or Wednesday night, so if a bunch of DVi members want to get together, I'm all for it. Let's use this thread as baseplan for putting something down. Count me in,

I plan on being there with my engineer from work. No plans yet, but a couple of years ago we went to the Roscor party. Most likely we will again this time.

I'm booked on a feature all through March and April, so no NAB for me this year. Bummer. I'll have to live vicariously through the reports here.

Charles,

That sounds like a fair trade... what's the feature?

There is a big racquetball tournament there the weekend before or after every year (coincidence) and I like to try to hit both if work allows... if there is a DVers night, I am up for it.

Fair trade--I guess. Unfortunately I had to turn down DP'ing a smaller feature to take this one as an operator for a variety of reasons. It's all good, but I have a couple of my own projects which are begging to get into production (my long-delayed Steadicam instructional video is one of them).

Technologically, the one interesting thing is that the look of the film is intended to be largely handheld, and we are examining various methods of achieving this other than just literally handholding. Here is one device that we will be testing--it's made by the same guys who make my Steadicam harness, so I already own the "expensive" part of the apparatus. It's like a beefed-up, next generation Easyrig (since the camera I'll be shooting with weighs over 40 lbs, beefed-up is good!)

I'll be there Sunday through Thursday, and at the DV Cafe. I'm also up for Monday or Wednesday night, or even beers after the DV Cafe.

Hey Chris

Commit yourself to our annual FCP shindig Wednesday April 20

http://www.lafcpug.org/nab.html

We can use ya for taking tickets :-)

I'll also be hosting the Promax event this year. Both show are going to be must attend events.

Thanks Michael,

I wouldn't dream of missing the yearly NABified LAFCPUG jamboree!

But taking tickets, wouldn't that automatically disqualify me from the raffle? Oh well, perhaps doing that will prevent Wilt and Hodgetts from drinking me under the table again.

i will be at nab thursday...any closing parties going thursday night Chris...?

Man, by that time, Robert, I hope to be home in bed or nearly there. I'm limiting myself to the first three days this year. Is that the only time you'll be around?

Ned Soltz took tickets last year and won a DeckLink HD card. No one complained. Course - what you going to say to a Rabbi?

:-)

is one day enough to see nab....i have never been there, should i give it two...i'm free all week, and have a job the week after st. george utah...

I plan to be there for the whole thing if Chris will ever email me that info he promised. Nudge, nudge Chris.

=gb=

3 days is usually minimum for NAB. It is a HUGE show and make sure you wear comfortable shoes.

Agree w/Michael, I don't think one day will allow you to accomplish much. If all you want to do is walk in and be overwhelmed, then one day will suffice, but if you want to actually get some benefit out of the experience, then you'll need three days. Two days at the very least, if you're focused and you know exactly which booths you want to visit and where they are, and you don't allow yourself to get sidetracked by cool stuff you weren't expecting to walk past (my big problem). Some folks go the whole four days.

This ain't DV Expo, which you can do in a single day (as I did, last Dec. for the West coast show). NAB fills the entire Las Vegas Convention Center, including both levels of the new South Hall. Just to go up and down all the aisles and still absorb a presentation once in awhile, you could easily go all four days:

Day One: North Hall, Audio Exhibits
Day Two: Central Hall, Video & Film
Day Three: South Hall, Upper: Video & Film
Day Four: South Hall, Lower: Post Production

I'm limiting myself to three days, so I'm going to try to jam the North and Central Halls into a single day, which will be a bit of a challenge. And Michael's right, comfortable shows are a MUST, as you're going to be on your feet the whole time walking the quivalent of a few miles per day. NAB is great excersize!

(Greg, I haven't forgotten about ya)

Chris, are you going to be spending time manning the Canon booth, as in years past?

Nope! I'll be roaming the aisles. This show is far too important to spend it stuck behind a counter!

NAB 2005 Las Vegas
 

Hello Folks,
I was thinking about attending the NAB conference for the first time this year in Las Vegas. Looking at the show web site is pretty overwhelming...lots of stuff to do. I am new to digital media but am producing ( filming/editing) a regular TV show that is broadcast locally on cable leased access.I was hoping someone in this group may have some good ideas on how to save money and go to this convention on a budget. My areas of interest are:
FCP education
future trends in Digital media delivery
Digital media in retail enviroments/ new media ...Touchscreen/ projection
How to sell broadcast TV show ideas and production to networks.
If anyone has some good money saving ideas or ways someone new to digital media can get the most for the money out of NAB 2005 this help would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks
Brian

If I'm still in Vegas when NAB rolls around (I'm heading down tomorrow) can someone come post bail for me?
Thanks.

Let's see... you would have been in the cooler for a little over a month by that time... sure, I'd bail you out, but not until April 23rd.

Faces with names - NAB 2005
 

I've got my plane ticket - I sure do what to meet some of the people on here. It would be nice to put faces with the names!

For the first time ever I would like to attend NAB, but I'm not sure how to go about it. Do you just buy a general admission ticket? (about how much)and then separate ones for the conferences? What do you guys recomend?. I pretty much want to see everything.

Al

I'll be there, at the Promax event, LAFCPUG event and just wandering around. Also, Joe Maller has a panel on Filters for FCP he's invited me onto, so if anyone's interested, I'll see you then.

Graeme

Graeme, hope to catch you at the LAFCPUG deal, Horton has threatened me with taking tickets, so if I'm not up by the front desk doing that, then you'll find me hanging out close to the bar.

Chris, it would be most excellent to meet you. I'll be the guy with the baby daughter in his arms.

Graeme

How charming! Well, you should be easy to spot then -- I'll introduce myself to you that eve.

Well, how will the rest of us know who's who, besides Greame, at NAB? I say we all wear DVInfo sombrero hats!

(sorry if spelling on sombrero is incorrect)

Its easy to find all of us. Graeme will have the baby in his arms, Chris H will be under a table in the lobby of the Stardust and I'll be under the table next to him.

...and Wilt and Hodgetts will be laughing their heads off. Yes, it's always easy to tell who's who at any LAFCPUG event!

Seriously though, cool people like Michael and myself will be wearing our NAB badges, so look for the name tags. Sounds geeky but that's how you let people know who you are. Unless you're Big Dan Berube, the man who needs no name tag. Everybody knows who he is already.

"Day One: North Hall, Audio Exhibits
Day Two: Central Hall, Video & Film
Day Three: South Hall, Upper: Video & Film
Day Four: South Hall, Lower: Post Production"

I think I need a bit of a help, as far as getting the tickets for these events. Is this something you pay for upfront and basically it's good for all these events? How much are the tickets...?

Thanks

A ticket is good for all the exhibits. If you have a vender that you work with on a regular basis, you can usually get free passes for the exhibits. I use to have a link to get a free pass, but it's gone now. Good luck on finding a free pass.

Nah, free passes are easy to find, they're all over the Net.

See this Google list of NAB 2005 free pass links.

Brian and Alain:

Having attended NAB for the past 10 years, I can give you my two cents about attending on the cheap, and some gotchas for first-timers:

Plan on taking 2 hours to get out of the airport, especially if you arrive at a busy time. I usually arrive Sunday morning, and by then the crush of people has already started. Take a shuttle bus instead of a cab to your hotel. The line is usually much shorter, it's cheaper, and you can pay for a round-trip ticket when you arrive. Waiting for a cab anywhere in Vegas usually entails a 15-45 minute wait (75 minutes at the airport last time I arrived), and can run $10-$20 for each trip, depending on the distance. That tends to add up in a hurry! Thankfully, the city buses are frequent, reliable, and fairly cheap at $2 a ride. Get a bus book and carry dollar bills.

All the Official NAB Conference hotels run shuttle buses to and from the Convention Center, but only from about 7-9am and 4-6pm. You don't have to be staying at the hotel, just show up at the hotel's bus pickup area and catch a bus. If you've registered for a free exhibits pass, you'll get your credentials ahead of time in the mail, but I've never had a bus driver ask me for mine. If the new monorail continues to run, staying at a hotel near the line and buying a 3-day monorail pass might be THE way to get around. The monorail stops right at the convention center.

Staying at one of the offical hotels can be pricey, from at least $100+ per night. You might consider staying at a hotel within walking distance from a conference hotel, then walking to the shuttle. I've stayed downtown before ($50/night one year), but it can take a long time or be expensive to get to the convention center each day. Check out cheapovegas.com for a rundown of hotels, and maps of the strip.

I've never paid to attend the classes or seminars, but I've always felt that the show floor provided plenty of opportunities for education. In addition to 30-minute mini-seminars and/or sales pitches, there are more industry professionals per square foot than anywhere else, period. I think most folks are very willing to answer your questions, or point you to someone who can. I've found most people at NAB to be pretty egoless when it comes to sharing information. Just be sure to find the product specialist and engineers, not the paid spokesmodels. There are plenty of those around, too. Sometimes it's hard to talk to someone because there are just too many people crowded around wanting to talk. Just be patient and ask pointed, focused questions.

Because of its sheer size, the show floor can be intimidating. Plan out the major booths you want to see ahead of time, and make a list. Full, huge foldout maps are available when you arrive, so you can use a hilighter or sharpie to mark out who you've seen or booths of interest. Travel as light as possible. You can easily end up lugging around bags and bags full or literature and catalogs each day! I prefer to take a business card, write notes on the back, then followup after the show. Take a CD if available instead of a catalog. You will get an electronic card to swipe your information with vendors, but many of them will not send you literature unless you have them specifically note your contact info on the printout reciept. Always be prepared to do your own followup after the show rather than counting on the company to contact you.

Bring a comfortable shoulder bag with a big, padded strap. Even a light load feels heavy after a full day. Of course, wear comfy shoes - you'll be walking a lot! Be flexible. Even with four days, it's impossible to really see everything. Some of the most interesting conversations I've had are with people I never expected to meet in the lunch line, or vendors I didn't even know existed.

NAB will positively flood you with information. Try to take as many notes as you can, as attending the show is only half the experience. I find real benefit in visiting websites, stocking up on my bookmarks, and following up with people I've met weeks or even months later. You'll find your horizons broadened, and you'll start planning for NAB 06 before you stop getting brochures from NAB 05!!

Cheap lodgings
 

If you want to stay real el cheapo consider going out of town. I go with some colleagues every year and we've been staying at a place called Gold Strike in Jean, NV. It's a 20-25 minute drive from LVCC. Standard is decent and rooms are $20-30 a night Sun-Thu. You need to rent a car obviously but since we share it easily beats the cheapest strip options.

Not the best option if you want to party all night ofcourse ;)

Conference fees
 

I've been to NAB 5 years now, first year I got one of the paid admission things, attended some sessions, but found them to be either product placements disguised as serious sessions, or so crowded you couldn't get in. Pretty disappointing and a waste of $$ IMHO.

Since then I've just gone with the free exhibits pass and found it keeps me more than busy.

NAB 2005 - let's party!
 

Hey, NAB 2005 people!

I'm going to be in Vegas on the 20th through 24th....anyone else going to be there? If so, we can hookup for a beer somewhere. I'll be crashing (yeah right, more like losing at Black Jack all night long!) at the Stratosphere on the 20th and the Sahara the rest of the time.

Murph

Well, Murph, if I could drink witcha I would. But spring break is during that week so I'll be back at home in California. Besides, I'm not old enough yet anyway and I'd probably drink water anyway because I kind of have no interest in ever drinking alcohol (too much trouble IMO, plus I don't like headaches ^_^). Interesting though, I've visited Vegas numerous, probably almost one hundred times and I've been living in Vegas since August '04 and I have yet to visit the Stratosphere once. Huh. Well, I'm sure you'll enjoy it and, if you like roller coaster drop rides, then you're in luck because they just opened up a big ride last week or so. Enjoy! And go see a show or something, lots of big name people have been coming in lately (finally, some people besides Carrot Top for crying out loud!).

I've never been to the Sahara yet, so maybe I'll come down for a drink. I'll be there with a friend from work, so I'm not sure what are plans are yet. The department is putting us up at the Casino Royal. I'm hoping their rooms are too much of a dive, but as long as they are clean that's all I really need.

Hey David,
I think DVinfo (Chris Hurd) should try and schedule a time for everyone to meet this year. Maybe he'll set something up?

Hey Chris,
If you read this...do you wanna try and set something up? Just an official place and time, so we can try to coordinate. If not, I guess we'll all wing it!

Hey Jack,
Sorry you can't make it...and yeah, stay away from drinking. It makes you act stupid, throw up and wastes money.

Do as I say, not as I do. ;)