2011: 2nd Half Highlights
Jim
72 hours onsite in 5 days; split shift crews over the week; massive set change 2 days before show; 8 cameras, 2 jibs; Metallica. Must be Dreamforce! The Salesforce.com show at Moscone Convention Center has a reputation for last minute changes and the costs be damned! Lolipop thrust off the stage required more than the usual number of cameras: 3 long-lens at 3,6 & 9 o'clock; a jib near the stage and one in the back of the house; wireless handheld camera and a couple of robo-cams. Rarely have so many worked so hard; Jack Morton Worldwide and VideoApplications kept the ship sailing.
1st trip out of the country in 2011 was Directing for Creative Technology at the SIBOS conference in Toronto. Most challenging part of the job was clearing customs and hoping the reams of paperwork that allow foreigners to work in Canada were in order.
Our video setup included 5 robo-cams surrounding a boxing-ring style stage with raked seating for 200. Lots of discussions by business, financial and technology leaders - I found the mobile banking segments most interesting.
Off to the desert of Arizona for Google's Zeitgeist. One of those TED-like conferences where Google and their Partners come together to hear leading thinkers of our time. One comes away from these talks feeling better knowing there are people out there striving to make the word a better place.
Produced by Group X, speakers & performers over the two days included: Eric Schmidt, Robert Reich, Sandra Day O'Connor, Dean Ornish, Gilberto Gill & Son, Sal Masekela, Jane McGonigal, Tony Hawk, Sir Richard Branson, Cindy McCain, Ted Koppel & Arianna Huffington (click here to watch video), Celine & Fabien Cousteau, Chelsea Clinton, Tim O'Reilly, Ray Kurzweil, Deepak Chopra and Mark Cuban. Pretty impressive line-up!
Oracle Open World and Pay Pal X conferences leveraged the 1st half of October.
The 2nd half was my 2nd trip out of the country: Citrix Synergy & Summit shows in Barcelona. Half of my excellent video crew was from France, the other local. As the camera ops spoke very little English and I, no Catalan, I directed the show in Español.
The north coast part of town, where the convention center is located, was totally redeveloped for the 1992 Olympics. One evening I went to the other side of town - with a couple of my French crew (and 90,000 fans) - to see a futbol match between the Host city and Seville at Camp Nou stadium. A great treat to see the top FC in the world. At the end of the show, my wife joined me for a mini vacation. I feel very fortunate to have had the opportunity to work in this great city!
November went from coast to coast. An executive conference in Pebble Beach for Harris Creative and a Cisco event, produced by InVision in Miami Beach.
Much of the rest of the year was spent on the 27" iMac, editingOptimal Life a series hosted by Dr. Christine Lee. Last year saw the release of The Essentials of Diabetes and The Essentials of Breast cancer. In 2012 we'll finish a Spanish version of Diabetes plus the next Series: The Essentials of Asthma. Anyone you know who is dealing with these conditions should watch these videos.
2011 was a strong year, I feel very fortunate to be connected to so many talented production companies, producers and video staging companies. 2012 looks to continue on that path. Let it roll!!!