Oliver raises some valid concerns in his post about the fate of the industry's largest show. Key players have dropped out - Apple, RED, Quantel - to name some of the larger players. And who knows how many smaller companies will drop out; we won't know until we get there and see the the empty booths on the floor. The tell tale sign of a company who just didn't bother -- the blank slate on the floor, with only the booth number sticker on the carpet, and some bad black curtains. Like the grave stone, people walk by, heads lowered, wondering what happened in the days leading up to the show.
But Avid is back, after a 2-year hiatus. Oliver raises the good point that perhaps they realized the value of being there far outweighed the cost savings of not being there. I suspect that's the case. Two years ago when Apple announced their exit from the show, Avid followed suit shortly thereafter. We all gasped and wondered what this bellweather announcement meant to the show and the industry. It was major news.
I wondered what the lower level of the south hall would look and sound like without the battle of the 2 biggest booths directly across the aisles from eachother, theater speakers pointed at eachother! It was going to be strange!
Turned out, Avid really was there, but just in different ways - a maze of meeting rooms, events, parties. Their presence was felt; just differently.
In hindsight, I found the comparison between Apple and Avid less and less similar to eachother. Post production is but a segment of Apple's vast business. What they lose on the show floor at NAB, they make up at their Apple Stores worldwide, their Developers Conferences, user groups, etc - they are not at a loss for a stage. For Avid, however, post production is its bread and butter. There is nothing else. There is no Avid Store at the mall. Shows like NAB and IBC are a bit more important to them, I suspect.
This will be my tenth NAB. My first four shows, I was there as the Corp Comm guy for Media 100. NAB was massive (and it still is). It not only covered the entire LVCC, it also spanned to the Sands Convention Center (the south hall was still under construction then). In those days, Media 100 had just purchased Terran Interactive (remember Cleaner? Now part of Autodesk? That was a Media 100 acquisition in 1999). We had two booths, one in the LVCC and one in the Sands. It was fun shuttling back and forth between the two halls in the desert heat...not!
Afterall, the dot com bubble had not yet burst and streaming media was the present and future of post production, or so we believed. I was running the PR for Media 100, and I tell you, I conducted more press briefings in one show than I've had in my entire career. For the first time, our schedule was so packed, I was personally briefing the press - that was unheard of for me. The people connection was huge.
And that's the point I'm getting to about NAB. The people connection. Oliver touches on this as well. John Molinari, then the CEO of Media 100, would always tell me, "NAB is a deal making show." It wasn't about selling product off the show floor (although if someone wanted to buy, we wouldn't turn them away). It was about back room meetings with partners, allies, competitors. Companies got bought at NAB, not products.
And for me, NAB is about PR. Once a year, I get to sit down with my friends in the industry and in the press and reconnect. Sure we talk all year - email and now even on Twitter, but you can't replace those chance meetings in the aisles, or the countless events that bring people together.
Oliver rightly encourages people to come to the show. I've never seen the deals in Vegas this good before. There will be plenty of news and innovation on the show floor, and plenty to talk about. It's the one trade show I actually look forward to. I'm looking forward to connecting with old friends and meeting new ones.
The economy may be down, but it's the connections made, the deals signed, and the glow of innovation that will inject some hope into these gloomy times. I'm making my travel plans this week. Hope to see you there!
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