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November 8, 2005
Industry Conferences: Not Just For Cheating On Your Spouse!
A Boondoggle By Any Other Name
It had been a few years since I had attended a trade show. I feel confident reporting that very little has changed since I last attended one. Still, this one was a lot more digestible than some of the ones I'd been to in recent years (publishing and/ or character licensing shows aren't all that). Assorted observations and/ or quick hits:
With Your Mouth Closed Next Time: cheers to the dude sitting in the row behind me during Tuesday's session on Word-of-Mouth marketing for unapolgetically snoring through a solid 20 minutes of the panel disucssion. Hilarious. People keep throwing these positively withering looks my way, to which I could only offer a "Hey, I ain't the one who's snoring" shrug. Poor dude.
WebClickMoneyTechFrog.com: I guess I had forgotten just how poorly named tech startups are. Walking through the exhibition space I was reminded that people whose primary skill is making technology work aren't always so outstanding at branding and/ or naming strategies. Ugh. Just brutal. The worst part is how they would dress up these names with just ridiculous color schemes and logos; we postulate that the garishness of the logos was inversely proportional to their importance and/ or value in the market. The colors! The gimmicks! The stupid tchotkes! (Still, I will reiterate my earlier point about this being better than publishing and/ or character licensing trade shows.)
Men Don't Usually Get That Look: you know, the one where a stranger comes up and stares at your chest? Only it's the badge that they're staring at so they can decide if you're worth speaking to/ trying to sell to/ pester. Right. The badge.
I Heart The New York Hilton: in an act of extreme mercy, the Trade Show Gods decreed that we need not journey to the deep recesses of western Manhattan for this show; everything was at the New York Hilton in Midtown. Anything that saves me from visiting the dread Jacob Javits Center (location: four blocks from nowhere!) is inherently wonderful and is to be applauded and celebrated.
It's Right There, Across From The Other Starbucks: as I'm walking through the hotel lobby this morning, some woman accosted me and demanded to know where I had gotten my Starbucks. The urgency and passion in her voice were hilarious. My "Starbucks," as if I had unearthed a rare and priceless treasure! I allowed myself an internal chuckle and explained to her that I got it on 56th Street (we were on 54th Street) but that "there's probably one that's closer." Tourists.
Posted by thatkid at November 8, 2005 4:25 PM under
Biznass
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