What to do at NAB

[Richard Campbell]

I offer up this suggestion: Stop by The Peppermill on the North end of the strip. Great place for breakfast, and take a few minutes and check out the firepit lounge.

Hash House A Go Go in Imperial Palace….another awesome breakfast, which will last you all day.

Show tickets-go to Tix 4 Tonight (locations all over Vegas) and you can get unsold tickets for most every show heavily discounted. You need to get there when they open (10am) to get the best shows, and yes you can get great seats.

Down Tropicana-check out the Pinball Hall of Fame. Machines from a century of pinball. Ten bucks will get you a couple hours of being a kid again.

Richard Campbell
Tvshooter Video Production
Atlanta, GA
http://www.Tvshooter.net

[Bob Zelin]

Richard –
are you following me around ? Hash House a Go Go, and Peppermill are memorable experiences – even if you only want to do hi end dining. These are totally unique Vegas experiences.

Don’t forget asprin. Leaving Vegas without a headache (even if you don’t drink) means that you have
not had the Vegas experience.

Bob Zelin

[Earle Nichol]

Bob, is so right! For sure you have to have your list or you will be crushed with info..and you will just end up overwhelmed(happened to me on my first NAB oh so long ago) If you can get a resller to get you a manufacturer appt, then you may be able to get your answers quicker. The NAB app is great for getting around, and the guys are right, have the good breakfast, maybe a midday snack and go for a good dinner. I also try to stay til Thursday and spend Thursday afternoon at the pool, writing my blog while everything is fresh in my mind, and it gives me some good winddown before I jump on the plane! And a cache of Tylenol is a mans best friend, to keep up with the Vegas experience Bob is talking about. Hey Bob, hope to see you at Centre Bar on Monday..travel safe!

Communication! Communication! Communication!

[Michael Sacci]

I will add one piece of advice. Do not take brochures at the show, your suitcase will be overweight and you will just be tossing it all out at the airport.

In this day and age with should have an app to send pdfs to our tablets and smart phones.

[Tim Wilson]

[Michael Sacci] “Do not take brochures at the show…”

I respectfully disagree. Printed stuff from a booth like Blackmagic can run 200 pages or more. I can also tell you from both experience as a showgoer and careful research on the vendor side, people are a lot more likely to look at a brochure when they get home than a PDF. Your mileage may vary, but “that’s the way we’ve always done it” isn’t the only reason why they still do it.

The solution is to bring a USPS Priority Mail box, one of the ones shaped like a cube. Buy the $4.95 postage for it before you leave home, pack it with the 30 pounds of paper you pick up at the show, and you’re done.

But I couldn’t agree more that carrying piles of paper on the plane is more work than you need to do.

[Lance Bachelder]

I agree Tim – love the BMD catalog for sure – but it is heavy. Since I drive out every year I usually do my Monday morning round up in the publications area of the upper South Hall and get all the mags in one tote bag and put them in the car right away. It’s a heavy bag but you can grab at least $100 worth of mags for free to read later. A lot of vendors give out free tote bags, some nice than others, try to grab one with a wide, soft strap and not the string kind, then be very selective with the brochures etc. Many booths have CD or DVD with pdf’s – easy to carry. Most vendors don’t have a lot of printed stuff like the old days.

Please don’t be one of the dorks that grab every single piece of info and stick it in your rolling suitcase – just embarrassing and gets in everyones way. Sadly these guys are everywhere and usually stop sideways in the busiest aisles – welcome to NAB!

Lance Bachelder
Writer, Editor, Director
Irvine, California

[Rich Rubasch]

Forgot about the magazine area. Love it. And the USPS “if it fits it ships” box is a brilliant idea…now they just need to install a USPS drop box right next to the stand and we’d be all set.

Rich Rubasch
Tilt Media Inc.
Video Production, Post, Studio Sound Stage
Founder/President/Editor/Designer/Animator
https://www.tiltmedia.com

[Michael Sacci]

The USPS is a good idea but why not give people an option for a pdf version. iPad+long flight=good time to read a Blackmagic catalog on a new iPad.

[Tim Wilson]

[Michael Sacci] ” iPad+long flight=good time to read a Blackmagic catalog on a new iPad.”

I don’t disagree at all. We do Creative COW Magazine PDFs too, but even at “only” 52-ish pages, it’s 7-10MB. Can you imagine trying to download 10MB over an NAB wifi connection? Even 3G or 4G. It’d take a month, assuming that you can even stay online.

I also have to agree with Lance and Rick — I had forgotten about it too, but I love the magazine area. Even before I started making magazines. 🙂 I usually pick up a dozen or so that I’ve never heard of, and will probably never read again — but what a cool little insight into those corners of the industry.

Now having said all that, spend some time on the NAB Show website. There are a number of people that DO have links to their PDFs for download, and if it was up to me, I’d encourage everyone to do it….but I’d still encourage them to do print. 🙂

And encourage NOBODY to carry it home.

[David Shulkin]

[Tim Wilson] “Seriously, did you spend all this money and time to eat at Sbarro? Have a nice dinner instead.”

Couldn’t have been said better – this is what I’ve done for over a decade and it is an excellent method – including drinking plenty of water. 🙂