NAB

The National Association of Broadcasters convention is like a boat show for tv nerds. The ratio of men to women is 10 to 1. The standard uniform is a golf shirt with a company logo on the chest. Guys are walking around with free Adobe tote bags stuffed with pens, pamphlets and paraphenelia. People are excited about things like non-linear editing plugins, broadband, MPEG4, and sattelite trucks. I actually saw two guys drooling over the latest camera crane model.

So it’s all pretty absurd. And it’s all in Las Vegas, Capital of the Absurd. The hotels are epic in scale, giant malls with moats. And like Bono said, “Outside it’s America.” Folks are wearing jean shorts, Budweiser tshirts, SolarShades, cowboy boots — and I can report that the mullet as alive and well. It’s all pretty funny, pretty different. The Mandelay Bay rocks. I’m on the 31st floor looking southwest over McCarran International Airport. Most people would probably not be into the view, or the noise, but I love watching all the planes take of and land just a few hundred yards away. And I’ve had two terrific morning runs, one great swim, an entertaining meal with co-workers, and I’m up 7 bucks.

So… back to work.