2019 NAB Show
I was lucky enough to attend this year’s NAB (National Association of Broadcasters) show in Las Vegas at the Convention Center April 6-11, 2019. Hello, it was a huge venue with an overwhelming array of technology that required an open mind and sensible shoes…I felt sorry for the ladies dressed up and in heels. They looked great but I know that I covered more acres throughout the NORTH, CENTER, AND SOUTH trade halls in my granny marshmallow flats.
I was thrilled to listen to keynote NAB Distinguished Award-winner Alan Alda. I always have admired him and he was so humble, funny, and told us about his first magic trick performed in front of an audience as a 10 year old. We all used to watch him for years on M*A*S*H and he is still hilarious in person.
After the introduction, I wandered around for hours trying to figure out what the heck these broadcasters do with all of this miraculous technology.
I will list what I hope is important based on my opinion only. I read through the NABSHOW Dailynews for the basics (very helpful, professional publication) and highly recommend that you get all of the back issues from the trade show to see the full story.
1. WHAT IS IP? Many booths had the initials IP on them and once again, I had to google and call my 23 year old son to find out what the heck this means. HMMMMMMM, well it probably means Intellectual Property or Internet Protocol. Both of these definitions are on the internet, so look them up. Either way, it seems to be very important to all of these companies as a way to protect all of our computers, tablets, smart phones, etc. Good luck.
2. Fantastic, unbelievable huge screen TV’s. I think they were 8K screens. I stood there with hoards of attendees staring at the most beautiful pictures I have ever seen of nature, art, hang gliding, colors, etc. It was like Disneyland or that “Soarin’ Around the World” California Adventure ride. I tried to take photos but you can’t capture how amazing these 3-D type screens are. I was kidding when I asked the sales gal – is this available at Best Buy? She said YES! I am not going to tell my dad or husband about this because I know it will show up in my living room next week and then I won’t be able to go to Hawaii for vacation…
3. CAMERAS that capture aerial shots, dancing girls, green screen backgrounds that turn into cars, magical illusions, and other incredible scenes. High tech does not begin to describe these new lenses and robotic arm capabilities. I even saw a fake dog with a helmet camera for that all important “dog eye’s view” of life. I can just imagine our dog Fritz chasing squirrels in the park with this camera on his head. I wanted to order one to replace my son’s GOPRO camera but you have to order it online and it costs about $450. Very cool camera though from Insta360.
4. Great Speakers and Seminars. I tried to hit as many speakers as possible, but it was a bit overwhelming. I loved seeing the White House reporters speak on the second morning of the show. I waited after to meet Hallie Jackson, White House NBC News Chief, to thank her for her remarks. All four speakers gave me an idea of their press conference strategies which helped me to understand what the heck they go through on a daily basis at Trump’s White House. I was cracking up when Steven Portnoy, CBS Radio Chief said that Trump tends to give press conferences during the really loud helicopter pre-take off so he can avoid questions he doesn’t like by saying “I can’t hear you!” Hallie also said that they really try hard not to be “snarky” in their reporting, which I appreciated. I had a new found respect for veteran journalist Yamiche Alcindor, PBS NewsHour White House correspondent. She seemed very smart and experienced. Later I attended the most fun panel of the day – “BOHEMIAN RHAPSODY” where the crew talked about making the sound for the movie. They used over 90 guitars in the concerts scenes and hundreds of extras. They had the whole place rocking out!
Again, I have to say that I felt like a VIP and was treated GREAT by event manager DAN LEMLE. I don’t get paid to do any of this, just love to report on the trade shows from my point of view (an almost 60 year old mom) There was plenty to do and see and I hope you can get a feel for more of this trade show from my photos. 
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