Day 981

It was a good day to be inside. It rained most of the day, but it didn't matter to me, since I was working inside at the Convention Center anyway. I got up early, so I could get my badge and be at the show when the doors opened. These trade shows typically let exhibitors in an hour or two before the event opens to the public, and this is usually the best time to photograph the booth and merchandise.

As usually, the hall was extremely noisy and the lighting was terrible. I did the best I could, trying to color balance for mercury vapor, fluorescent, and incandescent lights all at the same time. Everyone at the booth seemed pleased with the videos and pictures I shot. Trade show environments are so challenging that the clients who actually attend these shows are usually delighted that I managed to get anything at all. The clients who stay home are almost universally disappointed and wonder why the images aren't better. "You had to be there," I tell them. 

At big industrial trade shows, the exhibitors give away all manner of trinkets at their booths. You can pick up boatloads of ball caps, flashlights, laser pointers, USB Flash drives, and umbrellas. Fashion people are different. There wasn't a lot of swag at the booths at all. There was a lot of activity though. All day long, the Convention Center was filled with frenzied buyers trying on clothes and manufacturers taking orders. I guess selling gas turbine generators and offshore oil rigs is a little different than selling shoes. and purses. I enjoy working these shows though. Fashion is fun.

Las Vegas is fun too. To me, Las Vegas is the quintessential American city. It's shallow, flashy, elegant and tacky, all at the same time. People's dreams and heartaches are close to the surface here. There is more wealth in this city than you can imagine, and yet the city has the highest home foreclosure rate in the country. If you stay here any amount of time, you do learn that you've got to know when to hold em and know when to fold em.

I'm looking forward to dinner tonight. I haven't eaten all day. I skipped breakfast and went straight to the Convention Center early this morning. The photos and videos are done though, and everything has been saved to the hard drive. I'd say it's time to look for a nice place to eat and maybe do a little gambling.

Lance is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 980

No time for the pool today. I was busy. One of my clients has a retail location in Caesar's Palace, and I went over to the store to interview the manager and take lots of pictures of the place. I wish I had an assistant, or at least a roadie. By the time I carried my 35 pound bag of gear from the Bellagio to Caesars, I was already tired. The interview went well though. The manager was delightful and regaled me with stories of what it was like to run a high-end business inside a casino. I'm glad I brought good lapel mics and a mixer with me. Las Vegas is a noisy place. You don't do anything in this city without a soundtrack in the background. You seldom see where the speakers are hidden, but the music is everywhere. Just going to the drugstore to get some toothpaste can feel like you're inside your own music video. Actually my video interview worked out pretty well. I won't need to add a soundtrack later. It's already there.

Janet won $200 last night while I was writing the blog. She said I brought her luck by staying away from the casino while she was gambling. Works for me. I have terrible luck at the tables. Playing slots is definitely not a game of skill, but I think having the right attitude helps. Janet thinks the glass is half full, while I tend to think it's half empty. It's not surprising to me that she consistently wins more than I do while we're in town. I've usually convinced myself that I'm throwing money away before I even start.

Now that I have today's pictures and video clips safely saved to a hard drive, I feel better about tomorrow's busy schedule. I will be doing several more interviews at the big WWD Magic show that's currently underway at the Las Vegas Convention Center.  Janet want's me to scour the booths for free fashion swag while I'm at the show, but I'm afraid if I put one more thing in my already heavy bag, I won't even be able to lift it.

It's hard to know what to wear in Las Vegas. While it's blistering hot outside, the casinos and hotels are always freezing cold. It's disorienting to spend the day going from one extreme to the other. When I'm inside the casinos I'm always looking for a sweater. Outside, it's a much different story. It's almost impossible to dress light enough to be comfortable walking down the strip.

I'm going to have to get a wake-up call tomorrow morning. We have one of those blackout curtains in our room. No light gets in whatsoever. If nobody opened the curtains, I'd probably sleep till noon.

Cookie is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 499

I'm finally on the trade show team's radar. I got calls from Germany, Orlando and Houston today. Some people were wondering what I was going to be doing and other people were telling me what I am going to be doing. Some folks suggested that it would be impossible to do what I had been tasked with doing, while others though it would be a piece of cake. The only thing that everyone agreed on was that I should be prepared for anything and should definitely come to Houston with a Plan B and maybe even a Plan C.

When I wasn't on the phone or answering e-mails, I was running all over town looking for odds and ends that I know I'll need in Houston, but have run out of time to order online. I finally found an acceptably compact mic mixer at Guitar Center. It's not battery powered like I wanted, but it will work. I got a special harness at my favorite camera store that will allow me to keep the video camera around my neck while I am typing on the laptop without it dangling and getting in the way. I got some spare "just in case" cables and a bunch of batteries. I think I'm ready.

Since I was running all over town anyway, I also picked up the finished Wine on the Roof banner that will hang on the outside of the East Lake building. The large banner looks great. It was kind of amazing to me that the color on the vinyl looks exactly the same as the smaller paper posters I printed. Printing technology has really come a long way. Oh, I got a lawn mover too. The grass in the front yard is so tall now that I just couldn't put it off any longer. This time I got an electric mower because I'm tired of messing around with hard to start gasoline mowers. I never liked having gasoline around the house anyway.

I got the bill for tax preparation from my accountant today. Once again, most of my refund will go to pay for figuring out how much of a refund I got. To me, this is kind of like going to a fancy restaurant, ordering a nice meal and then watching the chef eat it. Oh well, I guess it's still better than doing my taxes myself. Janet wants to watch the royal wedding on TV. We'll set the alarm tonight, but I'm betting we both sleep through the whole thing.

Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day