Vegas Baby!

So last month was NAB in Las Vegas, and I got to go!
Now I'd never been to the States before. I really didn't know what to expect. Other than not being allowed in bars or casinos as I'm under 21. And trucks on the road, larger meal portions and a favourable exchange rate.
Thankfully I'm used to long flights, and after establishing that I could take both a suitcase and a handbag as hand luggage, I had plenty of reading material to occupy my attention. Whoever made the argument that women should be allowed a handbag was well as a suitcase because the former is an item of clothing is a GENIUS.
Flying into Vegas is a bizarre experience. You see miles and miles of desert, which suddenly turns into a town, where the only bits of green are golf courses and baseball pitches, into a runway. Then from my window whilst on the runway I spotted a pyramid, a roller coaster and some giant gold shining buildings!
I'm definitely more at ease at these shows. IBC was a nightmare, trying to fit in over 100 videos interviews in 3 days, trying to navigate through the 13 halls, and not knowing anyone. Now we've sorted the timetable, the interviews are less of an issue and I have already met most of the people we interview. Navigation is usually still a bit of an issue, but that’s more due to having to keep an eye on the cameraman and presenter!
As people are beginning to know the BroadcastShow brand more, it's easier to get the interviews done on time. And as we tend to interview a lot of the same people, they know the format and will know what they want to talk about.
The show was massive, though thankfully not so much of a shock as IBC was! I didn't see as many ridiculously massive stands as I did at IBC, though again that might be because I knew how big some stands are. The Blackmagic stand was huge, however, and packed constantly. Something to do with a new camera apparently....
So why was I there again? Other than to bring the team back from the brink of crazy. I was armed with a trusty clipboard (a gift from the boss-man) after deciding that the numerous apps we tried out were, in essence, unreliable. Clipped onto my trusty clipboard were the sheets representing the day's interviews. I was to take notes on what product was talked about, if there were any edits needed to be made, (more like how many), and what would be relevant streaming online tag words. I also had a treasure map, marked with the location of each interview (the treasure being at Starbucks at the end of the day). Stuffed in the tool belt of power were: sharpies, business cards, bottles of coke, headphones, iPhone battery, lens cloth, AA batteries, camera batteries, camera cards and, of course, chocolate!
Fortunately, jet lag wasn't really problem for me. We teenagers like our sleep. Doesn't really matter what time it is, although I can only sleep lying down, so no sleeping in cars for me. The biggest problem I faced was making sure we got to our next interview on time. We had managed to orchestrate the timetable so that all the interviews for a morning or an afternoon were in the same hall. But the halls are huge. Often we had to go from one end to the other, navigating steps with a tripod on a dolly for good measure. I have been called bossy in the past, but I prefer organised.
One of the highlights was our Polecam cupholder. There were actual fights within the team as to who was going to use it. It's stabilised so it always stays upright whilst the camera is being titled and moved. Brilliant! The other highlight had to be the weather. 36 degrees people!!! I'm not very happy in the cold, but deal very well with the heat. However, by the time we got back to England the weather at home had turned very cold and wet. What a waste of a perfectly decent, lovingly cultivated tan!