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After six years at the Roosevelt Hotel in New York City, the Billboard 7th Annual Touring Conference & Awards, moved over to the Sheraton New York on November 3-4, 2010. While attracting the most delegates in its history, the trade publication Billboard got a larger room for the two days of music industry panels, but the awards show was held in a compressed space.
The panels covered mostly touring issues, including ticketing, merchandising, branding and sponsorships, VIP packages, artist development, new media and other live music , tech people issues. The conference attracts booking agents, artist managers, concert promoters, record company executives, venue professionals and a few indie artists.
The highlight of the concert was a keynote case study with the hot country group Sugarland along with its manager and agent, but the real treat was Sugarland -- Jennifer Nettles and Kristian Bush. Nettles has a big hit, "Who Says You Can't Go Home," with Bon Jovi back in 2006.
Walking through Grand Central Station and seeing people dressed as Japanese schoolgirls, ninjas and superheroes is unusual, even for Manhattan. New York Comic Con and New York Anime Festival attracts the few, the proud and the geeky into the Javits Center for three straight days of comic books, movies, anime and zombie apocalypse.
Going to Comic Con/NYAF is not an activity for those who have a low threshold for public humiliation. Besides the spandex and the skimpy costumes, there is also the constant demand to participate in activities which practically demand shedding any self-consciousness.
One big attraction was the Michael Jackson Experience, where dancers competed to copy the moves of the late great performer. Although not brave enough to try, it was an experience to watch the heavily costumed souls courageous enough to attempt dancing weighted down by loads of fake armor. The fear of public humiliation aside, it was likely one of the most popular spots at the event.
From July 9th to July 11th, 2010, another great rock and roll collectors/fan convention, The Super Mega Show & Comic Fest, took place in East Fairfield, New Jersey. This fun show had all the requisites of such events -- autograph signings, panel discussions and live performances. But what was especially great was the live concert -- the Come Together All Star Jam -- that I attended on the 10th, which included some infrequently seen stars of past era such as the following:
While summer heat enveloped the rest of New York City on June 23, cool was the watchword at Digital Experience!, the high-tech showcase hosted by Pepcom at the Metropolitan Pavilion. Attending media professionals and industry analysts freshened their market knowledge at the 30 or so displays by top technology companies, and chilled out around the Japanese-themed drink and food stations.
The lords of innovation have clearly been up and at it, as confirmed by the latest computer, wireless and consumer electronics on display. But this being the start of vacation season – and us being FilmFestivalTraveler.com -- the objects that particularly flagged my attention were the likeliest ones to punch up your getaway.
Take for kicks the Kodak Playsport video camera, a pocket-sized doohickey that shoots in 1080 HD in depths of up to 10 feet under water. So let's say you're attending the Anima Mundi International Animation Festival of Brazil in Rio de Janeiro this July 16 to 25, and want to take a break from watching to film a striped Nemo of your own. The Playsport features built-in stabilization, so you might swoon amid the waves, but your images won't. Priced at $149.95, this mini dream catcher surely costs less than one night at your hotel.
For your photo album, you may want to bring along the new digital camera from GE, the Active Series G5WP. AMong other colors, it comes in graphite gray, raspberry red and – in a nod to its waterproof materials -- ocean blue.
The optical zoom lens brings you four times closer to that shot of Sugarloaf Mountain you relish sharing with your hidebound friends back home. Plus the lens is internal, so there's nothing to get in your way, and it automatically adjusts exposure. With its 12.2 megapixel sensor, the GE-branded camera will also yield enlargements without getting all fuzzy, and the 2.7-inch LCD display and ISO up to 1600 further celebrate the sharpness theme.
The slim little gadget will set you back a reasonable $179.99, but the price may even come down a notch by October 1-3, 2010, in time to catch the Seychelles’ annual underwater film and image festival, SUBIOS.
For bookworms, I thought the Kobo e-Reader would make a fine travel companion. The sleek custom-colored tablet weighs 221 grams, just a mite more than your average book, and at 120mm x 184mm x 10 mm thick, it's designed to slip handily into your purse. I found its four navigation buttons (home, menu, back, display), easy to fiddle with, and toggled between screens without resorting to the sailor's vocabulary so many tech items manage to tease out.
Though the Kobo comes with 100 titles ready to leaf through, you can also download titles at kobo.com. The battery charge lasts up to 8,000 page turns, which you figure is equivalent to two weeks' worth of e-reading. Enough to make it to South Africa's Durban International Film Festival (22 July to 1 August, 2010) and back.
For additional info on Digital Experience! check out www.pepcom.com/DENY10-kit-web.pdf.
Digital Experience!
Metropolitan Pavilion
123 W 18th Street
New York, NY 10011
561-278-5094