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Some comments from a first timer
I’ve just now had the opportunity to sit down and put my thoughts together on my first but hopefully not last trip with the HTF group. I’ve had several commitments that have kept me from doing this sooner. The unfortunate part is that because of this, most of my thoughts have already been expressed by others on this board so you may hear some comments repeated. Anyone not interested in learning more about why I attended can skip down to the paragraph starting with “I must say that I read…”
Let’s get the swag out of the way first. I was under the impression that if I were lucky enough, I might receive a DVD if the vendors were in a good mood on the last day of the event. Let me say that a free DVD was not what attracted me to this event. I had no idea that we would be receiving such generous gifts. I am most grateful to everyone who had a part in providing them. Beyond the players and various DVD’s, don’t forget the HDMI cable. I haven’t heard much from anyone about this specific gift but the last time I checked, these start around $80. Thanks also to Robert Zohn and Value Electronics for providing the high quality bags. I think we all recognize this generosity won’t happen again but we're glad it happened this time.
I actually became involved very late in the game as the TVSHOWSONDVD.COM site posted a message that the HTF folks had some last minute openings for anyone interested. Getting involved with the behind the scenes side of the entertainment industry is something I’ve always had an interest in. Although my wife’s schedule wouldn’t allow her to attend, she knew that this was a great experience for me and said, “You can’t walk away from this, you have to go for it!” Note: A big thank you to her for putting up with my daily updates on what new things I learned each day on the website. I’m pretty sure she was ready for me to go by the time the event had arrived.
Anyway, a quick scramble to check on the cost of airfare and to clear it with my boss since it was a very busy time at the office, I fired off an email to Ron to make sure there were still openings. Ron was very courteous and knew I was leaving town before the arrangements would be final. He even went so far as to call me on my cell to make sure that Grace had taken care of me and my hotel arrangements.
I was concerned about how well I would fit in with the group. My home system would be nothing to the level the other attendees would have. Would these people even give me the time of day? Not to fear, everyone was very friendly.
I must say that I read about the Indie Expo taking place on Monday. However, I thought it sounded like we weren’t invited. Thinking this wasn’t available to me, I made arrangements to fly out Monday evening. Had I known we were invited, I would have been happy to attend. Next year, I will make sure to arrive earlier.
The opening session was interesting for me. I thought the power users weren’t really power users, but that’s OK. I think what the session was trying to do is give the retailers an idea of what their higher volume customers are looking for. I don’t think it was really there to provide what we perceive as power users.
Mr. Borgnine was very nice and I could have listened to him speak all afternoon. He was simply a nice guy. You would have thought you were listening to your grandfather telling you stories about his days in the war. He is truly a man with a lot of class.
I must admit that I didn’t know Katt Williams before the event, but I checked him out on Google and thought, “this wasn’t going to be for me” but was I ever wrong. I was very impressed with him. He was nothing like his on stage persona and I was also impressed that he had a service dog in training with him. My niece is a big fan and very much enjoyed the autograph picture she wouldn’t let me keep for myself.
The Blu-ray party at the TAO club was incredible. I learned that the girls were Playmates while asking one of them to speak to my buddy on the phone who couldn’t make it to the event. During this time, I learned one of them was originally from Indiana about 2 hours from where I live. By now, you’ve all seen the picture of me with them if you’ve looked at the pictures Ron posted.
The Starz party was the fantastic. I read in advance that Dennis Farina would be coming to the party. I’m a big fan of his earlier work in a TV show called Crime Story so I planned ahead and brought one of the Season 2 DVD’s for him to autograph. Remember that I got involved via the TVSHOWSONDVD.COM site. Waiting for the appropriate time to ask, he graciously said yes. This is a great show for anyone not familiar with it.
Wednesday’s sessions were excellent. I’ve never been to a convention before that didn’t bore me at some point, but these kept my attention every minute. The THX session was very interesting and I learned about how serious these guys take their certifications. I thought it could have been a little less technical but other people liked it and I still enjoyed learning about it.
The Warner Brothers session was my first experience at what high definition DVD’s are going to offer. Some incredible functionality that I will personally enjoy when I have an extra 8-10 hours but for the most part, I’ll just want to see the high quality presentation of the movie that I went to see at the theater. I also have to say that the navigational cinema functionality was something I would take advantage of. First, watching the movie the way the director intended and then seeing how it would have played out my way.
The HD-DVD panel session was good, but I was hoping to get more from it. I felt that too much time was spent used by people standing up just to make personal comments instead of asking questions of the group. The panel members were giving their valuable time and I felt the time was wasted beating them up. I really didn’t want to just hear that somebody didn’t like a particular format. I wanted them to provide facts as to why they didn’t like the format. I don’t mean to offend anyone. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion, but give me reasons. Solid reasons so I can make an informed decision as to which format I will choose or so those in power can go back to the studio and say, “this is why we should consider offering both formats.” I also agreed with a lot of what Michael Gresson said in his discussions. There were good efforts to try to keep the meeting in a positive flow too. I didn’t get the guy’s name, but one gentleman at the end asked some very good questions about if and when certain titles would be released. These are the things I was looking for from this meeting. Hopefully, next year will offer more sessions like this and we can capitalize on the opportunity.
There are more comments, but I think this has taken enough space for now. For me, this was an incredible experience. Thanks to everyone for the pictures you have provided, for your time and I enjoyed meeting you. I’m certainly glad that I went and now I have the bug. I’m eager to get my equipment installed when it arrives.
Have I mentioned how much I would like to go next year????
Russell
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