Audible exhales could be heard throughout the nearly 1 million square feet of exhibit space as the final closing announcement was sent over the loudspeakers of the Las Vegas Convention Center. Some, involuntary gasps of panic from what was left of 103,000 NAB attendees that just realized they didn't make it successfully through the 4 halls of the convention; and others, sighs of relief from the exhibitors of the 1,700 companies as they realized that the past 31 hours of standing on their feet is over.
That closing message also marked the 7th consecutive year of Aberdeen Broadcast Services exhibiting in the South Lower Hall at the NAB Show. This time, with a new location and a fresh look. As we continue to grow as a company, so does the size of our booth and the gathering of our team.
Upgraded 20'x20' booth complete with a 10'x4' triangular overhead hanging sign.
In the years past, Aberdeen has had a nice presence in a 10'x20' space just beyond the main product demonstrations from Red Digital Cinema, Blackmagic Design, and Adobe Systems. This year we were right in the middle of all that activity adjacent to Amazon Web Services.
We could not have predicted the perfect balance of inquiries across our 3 divisions. Frequent visits from producers looking for further education on the new closed captioning laws. TV stations looking to continue to free up their resources in the tape-less world. International producers looking to expand their audiences with multilanguage translations. And, unexpectedly, a dozen universities whose attention has focused on captioning their online courses after the recent lawsuit filed against a couple of Ivy League schools.
This year saw new innovative video and broadcasting technologies introduced at a rate only Flash Gordon could keep up with. 8K display systems, 10-ounce Micro Cinema Cameras, a storm-chasing Jeep Wrangler that would make Bill Paxton salivate, and drones. Drones EVERYWHERE. And like the drones, attendance is soaring: in six years, the turnout has grown to over 21,000 and now represents 164 countries!
It’s also encouraging to see the overall growth in the broadcasting industry at large. After all, the NAB was originally founded as the National Association of Radio Broadcasters and it wasn't until 1951 that the name was changed to include television broadcasts. Now, just “broadcasters” seem to cover it all.
2015 Aberdeen Broadcast Services Exhibitors
(Left to right) Michael, Tony, Arif, Kyle, Matt D., Steve, Becky Isaacs, Nathan, Ryan, Ed, and Matt Cook.
NAB Show, THANK YOU and we’ll see you again next year. April 16-21, 2016.
