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Audio Engineering Society Fall 2020 Convention


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Normally, about a month or so ago I'd be hyping the Audio Engineering Society (AES) convention and telling you all about the exhibits (the Toy Show) and free workshops and special events available with a free Exhibits Plus registration, and highlighting some of the workshops, seminars, product training sessions, and technical papers that you get with a paid registration. This will be the 149th convention, and no, I haven't been to every one.

 

Well, my enthusiasm for this year's show isn't what it ought to be because, well, you know, the show will be virtual this year like all the other trade shows. The gear and software exhibits will be video demonstrations, with maybe some scheduled time for Q&A with select vendors (details are still kind of sketchy), and there will be video tours, and video classes, but there hasn't been a full schedule of workshops, technical sessions, or special events published and it's getting late. There's some information here, which will be updated as things fall into place and on to a schedule matrix. The usual show is four days. The virtual show will run for four weeks, over the period of October 5 through October 30 with no doubt some repeats of the canned events. Our namesake George will be giving a presentation during the last week.

 

Early bird registration closes on August 31, so unless they extend that (they did, last year) if you're a member, you're out of luck for getting a full registration for $99.

 

They still have the virtual equivalent of the Exhibits Plus pass, now they're calling it Showcase+. It includes the product showcase with whatever Q&A works out to be, a set of technical sessions that I expect will be similar to the excellent presentations in past years as the Project Studio Expo and Live Sound Expo. The registration for Showcase+ is free ("Limited time only") so I'd suggest that you cruise over to the Registration page register for a Showcase+ pass, and watch the tube when you have the time and there's an interesting session that's covered by this registration Of course you can join AES and get a full access pass that includes all of the technical sessions.

 

One of the things that's most important to me when attending one of these shows is meeting old friends and making new ones, twiddling the knobs on a box, and being able to talk technical about new or old products. I'll miss this, but I'll probably drop in to a few sessions here and there. And I'll miss the wine happy hours at the trade booths.

 

It's live, it's virtual, it's the best they can do given the circumstances. Give it a shot. You're bound to learn something.

 

While, personally, I don't think this - The George Massenburg Professional Recording Forum - should continue as an active forum since most of the posts here are over 10 years old and George no longer participates. But since The Management seems to want to keep it open, maybe we can use this space to talk about what we learned from an interesting tech talk, what's exciting about a particular new product shown, a good workshop that taught you something useful, and such.

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I am glad they are at least doing it in some fashion. I hope it is viable and fun for those who participate!

I suspect that once "web trade shows" become established, they will be the new way of doing things.

 

I'm pretty OK with that, the world is changing and I don't think there is much I can to to halt "progress."

 

I'm not any manufacturer's customer anyway. I bought a new guitar, once. I bought new guitar amps, twice. In my studio if I count the Presonus Fader One that was included as a bonus for buying the Presonus Quantum, I've got 3 physical items that were purchased new. I did buy another interface new many years ago so that's 4. Software is another story but has gone almost entirely online. The local Guitar Center has a few titles in boxes but not much compared to what is available. Most software offers a trial period anyway, you can download from your home and play with it before you pay for it. Not a bad business model in my opinion.

It took a chunk of my life to get here and I am still not sure where "here" is.
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