5/01/09: Milken Conference, Bay Area Council & VMware
Jim
April had some interesting and challenging events. Directing for Video Applications, the Milken Educator Awards were held in downtown LA. 70 Teachers from around the country were acknowledged for their accomplishments with $25,000 prizes. My challenge was to run two switching systems - one for the screens in Hi-Def and one for the SD record. Presenters for the conference included Tim Pawlenty, Governor of Minnesota. The day the show ended I hopped a flight back to SFO and drove down to Palo Alto to direct for InVision Communications on a VMware event. VMware (the name combines virtual machine and software) is one of the tech companies that offer software and hardware in the cloud. VMware hosts other operating systems in such a way that each operating system behaves as if it were installed on a self-contained computer with its own set of programs and hardware resources. Now you're more confused that ever!
The presentation took place in the basketball gym on the new VMware campus. 
This show's video elements were even more complex: One switcher to do the screens (two in the gym and an LED screen outside); I ran the video switcher for the record cut and a third switcher was used for the webcast. . Good exercise for the brain: directing the cameras to the screens, all elements to the records and dual picture in picture (pip) to the webcast. John Chambers and Michael Dell made short presentations. (Screen shot of the webcast)
In between celebrating my wife & daughter's birthdays I directed the video for the Bay Area Council's Outlook 2009 program in San Francisco. Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger was interviewed on Heavy Lifting: What’s Next for the People’s Governor?
A couple of days later and it was back to LA for the Milken Global Conference. (check out the link for videos). I've done this show four years running and hands down, it has the most star studded list of presenters of any one show I'm involved in - well it is in Beverly Hills. There are over 100 presentations in three days. Panelists on shows I directed included: 
Governors Arnold Schwarzenegger (that's the Governator twice in one week!), John Huntsman (Utah) and Edward Rendell (Pennsylvania). A panel on Sports Philanthropy included Andre Agassi, Mia Hamm, Chris Waddell (paralympic athlete who will attempt to become the first paraplegic to summit Kilimanjaro unassisted later this year), skateboarded Tony Hawk, and golf legend Annika Sorenstam. The second days political panel was a left vs. right discussion with former SF Mayor and Speaker of the House Willie Brown & Rush Limbaugh. Fights were breaking out in the audience - not on the stage! (Screen shot of the webcast)
Heading East in May: Las Vegas, then my first ever gig in..... Arkansas.