Conventions

It’s the Official Convention of The National Association of Theatre Owners or NATO. (No, not the NATO that has been trying to stop Muammar Gaddafi from shooting up his fellow-Libyans). “The world goes to the movies, and the movie world goes to CinemaCon”, which was all about “celebrating the moviegoing experience”, and of course rubbing shoulders with Tinseltown celebrities like Helen Mirren and Russell Brand. (The British are much in evidence again, apparently). There was tinsel in plenty, from exclusive Hollywood product previews debuting a slate of upcoming films, to must-see premiere feature screenings, to big stars, producers and directors, CinemaCon jumpstarted the excitement and buzz that always surrounds the summer season at the box office. Hey, lady, hold your popcorn down lower, I can’t see the screen…

Seatrade Cruise Shipping Miami is “your passport to success”. Says so on the big disply right above where you sign in and get your badge. Things have moved on since The Love Boat was topping the bill on network TV. Get on one of these big beautiful babies (stand one on end and it’s like a seagoing skyscraper), and there’s more on offer than just a leisurely game of shuffleboard with the senior citizens. You could bring back more than a tan and a straw donkey in a Mexican tasselled sombrero, too: like how about your mega-winnings from playing the slots? Or a new spouse? Or a certificate saying you’re now a qualified salsa dancer? The 4-day conference program was kind of a virtual cruise in its own right, particularly with all that audience participation and interactivity. There is actually some justification to the often-heard claim that cruise vacationing is the last recession-proof business on earth. Wait, that’s my favorite song! Jimmy Buffett singing “Boat Drinks”…

“The Gama Trade show is all about “”minding the business of games”". The theme for GTS 2011 was “Times Are Changing”, and those gamesters witnessed a lot of changes at the show. This was the best retailer turnout for GTS since 2008, with 219 unique retail stores attend this year’s show, fifty percent up on the GTS 2010 attendance level. The sponsors were outfits like Bandai, Wizards of the Coast, Mayfair Games, Cryptozoic, Sandstorm, WizKids, AEG, Paizo, Konami, Osprey Publishing, GameScience, Alliance Game Distributors, ACD Distribution, Game Publishers Association, and ICv2, and they collectively pioneered a new Retailer Appreciation Package. See that little group over there, in pink gingham shirts and raggedy-ann straw hats? They’ve been playing Farmville non-stop for the whole duation of the show. Now, if I give you a cow, will you feed my chickens?

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Hospitality Week? Sounds a little staid, right? So how about if we call it the Nightclub and Bar Convention and Tradeshow? Oh, NOW you’re interested! Okay, if you can just peel your eyes away from that cocktail waitress in the black leather bustier and the little butt-twitcher skirt for five seconds, I can explain that this here is a SERIOUS BUSINESS, okay? Say what? Who? Over where? Oh, I give up… The proceedings are best summed up by a report in the Las Vegas Sun, whose lead paragraph was: “Pint-sized porn princess Jesse Jane packed a powerful punch when she dazzled and wowed the delegates at the three-day Nightclub & Bar Convention and Trade Show yesterday, as she launched her new line of pure and flavored Diosa Tequilas”. Okay, make mine a… Oh please, what idiot just asked the waitress for a Virgin Mary?

Retail Packaging Association: RPA? It stands for Retail Packaging Association. And what better venue for a packaging exhibition than Las Vegas, which wrote the book on “packaging” glitzy experiences? Manufacturers, distributors and manufacturers’ representatives in retail packaging need to hold an annual meeting to facilitate new business development and networking. And the RPA, formed in 1989, provides plentiful educational and networking opportunities at its annual trade show and conference. It has 250 member companies representing all corners from the retail packaging world, America-wide and overseas. In a survey, the vast majority of delegates filling in their questionnaires opined that the length of the show was “just right”. So we assume these RPA organizer folks, like the glittering City of Las Vegas itself, are fundamentally pretty good at, well… packaging…

Western Veterinary Show: This is the Western Veterinary Conference, or WVC, and you’ll be pleased to hear that it was “practical, progressive and educational, at least if the publicity materials were to be believed.

Do you have any idea how long it takes to study and qualify as a veterinarian? Minimum is 7 years, and you first need to take the required undergraduate courses, which take 3 years. Many candidates prefer to get their bachelors before applying. It can take 5 years in vet school itself. You can specialize in horses, small animals, farm-stock, exotics… but you have to learn a lot more weird biology than the average sawbones who merely treats human beings. Once you are done, you will have a doctorate in veterinary medicine, and one-seventh of your adult life will be used up before you send out your first invoice. So, in view of what these dedicated individuals have to go through in order to become employable… “don’t forget: hire the vet!”

Wedding & Portrait Photographers International:
Sometimes, just to keep our readers on their toes, we’re going to do a show synopsis based only on delegate feedback, and you’re going to have to guess what the show was all about, okay? Try this: “WPPI was a whirlwind, and although I didn’t have time to attend any classes or speaking events or even any parties, it gave me some good insight into what the event is like, and I’m really looking forward to going next year. No sleep, dying iPhone battery, drinks with photographer friends, lots of walking, lots of talking, work emails and more work emails… Then back from the sunny desert of Las Vegas to the snowy chill of Seattle”. Guessed yet what WPPI stands for? How about if I tell you the above was posted by a visitor from an outfit called Cowbelly? Give up? Okay. WPPI stands for….. Wedding & Portrait Photographers International. Just goes to show that some show visitors get more specific experiences than others….