NEC, 25th Feb
Went to Focus on Imaging today at the NEC, my first visit to a trade show where I wasn’t putting it up or taking it down. I was there for a little under four hours.
By the gods these things are mental! I didn’t really do much other that wander around but I’m utterly exhausted from the experience. But I do have a few inches of glossy catalogues for cameras I can never afford.
Best stand was probably Ilford where they had photographers who used their film and paper on hand to talk about their work. Biggest disappointment was probably Apple who were just pushing Aperture, though I guess that’s understandable. Weirdest omission was no sign of Lightroom at Adobe. Hardly any freebees or schwag. I got three sheets of Ilford inkjet paper, a copy of the British Journal of Photography (which is pretty good) and a Nikon carrier bag. Got to play with a Gorilla Pod after hearing about them ages ago which was cool and I think they might actually be worth the money.
Gorilla Pod looks like a useful bit of kit.
Exhibitions are exhausting! Having worked several 3 day exhbitions on a booth, generally as a “barker”, the one thing you note is that the big stands have thick padded carpeting. There’s a good reason for that, standing on thin carpeted concrete is a killer on the knees and other joints.
The lack of freebies may be a sign of the times but given the cost of entry it seems only right to be able to walk away with something, even if it a purchase with a special exhibition day discount. But three sheets of paper! Sheesh!
That Gorilla Pod looks interesting!
Just to clarify, I didn’t pay to get in – just registered as a professional which wasn’t hard as they don’t seem to check. And there were plenty of discounts, some quite substantial. I was just expecting more schwag – caps, pens, badges, squeezy things – especially from the big companies.
No CDs of new software either, which was quite telling. Who needs CDs when it’s all online?