[Ron Lindeboom]

Thank you for posting this, Terry. Kathlyn saw it go up and knew I was busy with a bunch of things and so she forwarded me the link to this thread and we were very glad to read that Douglas is recovering quickly and will soon be moved to a physical therapy facility.

Our thoughts and prayers are also joined with everyone elses and we look forward to a full recovery for Douglas.

Again, thank you for posting this, Terry. It was very much appreciated.

Ron & Kathlyn Lindeboom
creativecow.net

[Ron Lindeboom]

Hi Kristin,

We are honored to have you swing by. As you said, it is never easy nor fun to have to address the negatives but it is a learning experience.

For the record, Kathlyn and I have known you and watched you build this from the very first show and know that you work very hard to try to build something of value.

As you also attested to in your post: it is a rough market today and it isn’t just union regs, or the perils of trying to build in tough times. As you hinted at, there are political pressures as well, and that is true with us and Creative COW Magazine, as well. We are always being pushed on to run a story about some company before they will support our magazine. We have to tell them no. In fact, we have begun telling them: “Let’s get this clear, you want us to do the same kind of thing and create the same kind of stories that has destroyed the reputation of many of the other magazines out there? That is what you want, right?” They get the point quick.

As you said, there are no easy answers and you do the best you can. We tried doing tradeshows — once. ;o)

As you know, Kristin, our own show was successful but we looked at all the time and effort that went into it and concluded it was far too much work to ever want to do it again.

One of the things you left out of your equation and which I will add to mine, is egos. This industry is full of them and not only do you have the perils of the market, the unions, the sponsors and advertisers to deal with, and the attendees, but then you also have to factor in the egos of some of the people you have to work with in the conferences, etc. That was one of the hardest things for us as Kathlyn is very mellow, as you may remember, and she was getting kicked all over as I was busy with many other areas of the show.

There is a lot that goes into an expo and conference and as I said elsewhere in this thread, the ones that succeed are the ones that find a real connection with their audience. I have never heard anything negative about the Los Angeles show — well, except for the parking situation that David pointed out — and know quite a number that have attended it.

But as you pointed out, Chicago is a cow of a whole other color, and we once tried to get a show going there ourselves but gave up, humbled by the resistance and hoops and hurdles we had to jump through. That you have pulled it off six years in a row is no small feat.

Tradeshows get harder by the year to pull off, that you have grown amidst it all is a testament to your tenacity and vision.

Thanks for coming in here and “walking the gauntlet,” Kristin.

Best regards,

Ron Lindeboom

Creativity is a type of learning process where the teacher and pupil are located in the same individual.

Perfection is achieved, not when there is nothing more to add, but when there is nothing left to take away.
– Antoine de Saint Exupéry

[Ron Lindeboom]

[Craig Sommerer] “…my experience this year was one of the best I’ve had in many years due to the decreased attendance.”

“Your Honor, the prosecution rests…”

Ron Lindeboom

[Ron Lindeboom]

[Abraham Chaffin] “Yes this is possible.”

You remain, as ever, The Man.

🙂

Thank you,

Ron Lindeboom

[Ron Lindeboom]

Hi Zak,

Our moderation functions are based on the number of posts that a user has made.

You are likely under that number.

Either that or you have changed your email address or modified your account settings, which also throws an account onto automatic moderation.

We take these steps as spammers have been successfully blocked here at the COW for years and they have gotten more and more aggressive and now make posts under real humanly manned accounts and copy and paste answers, etc., until their accounts are unlocked and then they go nuts across the site.

Because of this, to protect the integirty of the posts across the COW, we have to watch new accounts far more than we used to.

We apologize for the inconvenience.

Best regards,

Ron Lindeboom

Creativity is a type of learning process where the teacher and pupil are located in the same individual.

Perfection is achieved, not when there is nothing more to add, but when there is nothing left to take away.
– Antoine de Saint Exupéry

[Ron Lindeboom]

Is it possible to add a “Replace video with a different version” button, Abraham?

There are some people that have lost all their votes and comments, etc., by not being able to replace the video with a new version.

I think it would be a great feature.

Thank you,

Ron Lindeboom

[Ron Lindeboom]

[Craig Sommerer] “Lots of people believed the hype of the demise of the [NAB] trade show and I could talk to any product manager I needed to talk to, no waiting. I’m hoping the hype continues on to next year.”

Er, um, excuse me. As someone who actually pays to have booths at tradeshows, I don’t think I would call that a raging success from the exhibitor’s point of view.

Placid relaxed grazing may be nice for cows and end users at a tradeshow, but it is not as advantageous for *many* of the companies on the show floor of NAB. Some benefit from it — usually those with higher mark-ups and tougher products to pitch, ones requiring more hand-holding to introduce — but most exhibitors would prefer a larger rather than a smaller audience. (Well, as long as it was an audience that really was targeted to their product. I remember when we went to the New York DV Show back in 2002 and we found out the promoters had people walking the rainy streets of NYC giving out passes to visitors who wanted out of the rain and came in to ask questions like: “So what is DV?” After about the 10th time of being asked that, I started pointing those people to the promoters information desk and told them that they would be quite happy to explain the focus of the show to them.)

Concentrated is nice but you need numbers too. Especially for the kinds of exorbitant fees that trade shows charge vendors.

Oh, and the demise of tradeshows is no hype. Like magazines, they are struggling hard to survive in today’s world where the internet is at everyone’s fingertips. The need for them is just not as great as it was before the internet came along.

The ones that survive will be the ones that have a real connection to their audience. Shows like DV Expo have dropped to the point where they are 1/50th or less, (from what I can assess from memory), of what they were in their halcyon days. Why? There was no genuine connection to the audience.

NAB has a connection. Cinegear has a connection. But from what I can see, many others are struggling to find a connection. Some, like DV Expo, have completely lost that connection and few companies even bother attending anymore.

Best regards,

Ron Lindeboom

Creativity is a type of learning process where the teacher and pupil are located in the same individual.

Perfection is achieved, not when there is nothing more to add, but when there is nothing left to take away.
– Antoine de Saint Exupéry

[Ron Lindeboom]

We recommend tapeonline.com and couldn’t recommend them any higher, as if we had to rely on taperesources.com to support the COW, you would be unable to recommend them highly or otherwise.

Between a contest of really nice people, I think I’ll vote for the tapeonline.com people any day.

:o)

[Ron Lindeboom]

Please use https://www.tapeonline.com as they are a great bunch of people and have been a strong supporter of Creative COW. And if you do business with them, please let them know that you appreciate their support of the COW.

We would appreciate it.

Ron Lindeboom
creativecow.net

[Ron Lindeboom]

[Taylor Hungerford] “I’m now looking at the Iomega Ultramax HD. It seems to be the best choice out of the lot. It has a lower customer rating…”

I can’t say that I personally know one person in this site that has gone this way in this arena. (And as the guy that helped build this place, believe me, I know many of the people here.)

Personally, as someone who has been around for years and remembers Iomega’s track record over the last 10 to 15 years, I sure wouldn’t do it.

It’s your call but there is a GOOD reason that Iomega warrants the kinds of low customer ratings that they do.

Dear ole Dad always said: Don’t be penny wise, and pound foolish.

Ron Lindeboom
creativecow.net