I have uncommon luck in contests.

I’ve never considered myself a lucky person. (For example, my lucky day is Friday the 13th).

If you recall, last year, I won a flyaway contest to Las Vegas by entering a random contest. I’ve won a few things day to day but that’s a pretty big one.

I also got a prize in the @Denisao44 and Fábio Coentrão contest – it’s not here yet… I’m so excited, I cannot wait to get it. :3

Recently, I’ve been (trying) to play a game called Gods and Heroes, Rome Rising. Trying because I really don’t have as much time as I’d like to play, but when I do get to, I rather enjoy it.

They’ve been running a few contests! There’s been a haiku contest and a correspondent contest.

I entered in the haiku contest to win an unlimited beta key first off. I won that, which I was horribly pleased about. I love knowing my writing is good enough to be able to compete.

This contest, however is slightly more of a bigger deal. The winner gets to fly TO Austin… spend time IN the studios, talk to everyone, and write for MOG.

And… I won that too. Which I’m blown away by. I know a few people that entered who are rather amazing writers, and for me to be picked over them is a massive boost to my self esteem.

So, May 11-13 (quite literally the week of my finals, so I can push them forward and have them due sooner), I will be in Austin, TX visiting Heatwave and meeting the G&H staff and getting a behind the scenes tour.

You can read the official press release and my interview here: Contest Winner!

Then the 18-25th I will be in Chicago for a planned Anime Central, Museum of Science and Industry, Cubs game, and celebrating my (31st) birthday. With some of the best girls on Earth!.

Then (hopefully) at the beginning of June, I’ll be LA bound on my plot to take over the world and learn how to have fun again. (And just maybe get a slinky red dress.)

I love travelling, this is just so awesome right now. NAB was an absolute blast, which I cannot wait to finish writing about, but I had to get this out first!

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@NABShow, Day 1!

NAB Show 2011. I’ve been looking forward to this for months.

Flew in Sunday night, and arrived at Bally’s about 9something or other in my room. (I’m used to Central time, so for my internal clock, add two hours). Cleaned up, unpacked, got stuff dewrinkling, then caught up with my friend until roughly 130 am. Well worth it… realizing I had gotten up that morning at 530 PST… Well, I was tired enough I probably looked drunk walking across the casino floor last night. Came in, set an alarm for “ungodly o’clock” and laid down, but didn’t sleep all the 4 hours or so I had left.

Needless to say, my morning started out way too early. Woke up about 5 am (alarm set for 530), and spent the next 30 minutes in bed dozing off and drooling on my pillow going “unghhhhhhhhhhearlyneedcaffeinerawr”. Got out of bed (my room was cold!! Who forgot to turn on the heat last night!?? oh right, that would be my fault.) and dashed around getting ready. Couldn’t figure out if I wanted to eat breakfast downstairs at Bally’s (while it is a yummy breakfast…) or if I wanted to risk hitting Banner’s at the convention center. Banner’s won, and about 715 I headed down to the monorail and got to NAB proper. Fortunately they were open, I got my usual breakfast (Fruit, Yogurt, Bagel and Cream Cheese, and Caffeine). It was/is delicious and has become a staple of my NAB mornings. Oftentimes (like I am right now) I can sit here and eat my breakfast and work on my blog. It’s very nice and comfortable. Also, I have my tea that I brought from home that has more caffeine than most coffees. Nom nom nom nom nom.

While I was eating I was perusing around Twitter and the intermittently working NAB App, trying to figure out if I wanted to brave the James Cameron Keynote or not. I decided before I came out that if I’m going to be doing active things on Twitter, I need to be.. different to spot. (Aside from my fairly awful fashion sense). So I coordinated my outfits around various hair flowers I have. (Monday was bright orange, Tuesday is Dark Blue.. etc.) More on this with hilarious consequences later. You see all kinds here for dress, but generally if you’re clean and neat, don’t smell icky, and don’t look too scruffy, you’ll be okay.

I saw a tweet from @tysonbanks lookiing completely overwhelmed. My goal here at NAB is to network, meet as many of the NAB twitterati as humanly possible, and job hunt. Of course, to have fun but that’s pretty much a prerequisite as soon as you hit Vegas soil.

So I tweeted back, got a call, and met up. I remember how lost and amazed I felt last year – 80k+ people IS overwhelming! – and I didn’t really want to see the keynote alone, so we traipsed over there.. to see the ENORMOUS serpentine line. How was everyone going to fit in the room? The answer is, rather well – we got amazing seats and proceeded to watch NAB officially kicked off. There were the general welcome to NAB comments, the award to Eddie Fritts (former President of NAB) and then James Cameron.

It was literally all about 3d and how it will revolutionize the industry.

Alright. I have a confession to make.

I CAN’T SEE 3D. Not in art, not in paintings, and ESPECIALLY not on A SCREEN. The notable exception to this has been at the new Warren IMAX near my house in Wichita, KS – that screen is massively huge and I could see some elements for the first time, which is pretty awesome. But this year, NAB is really leaning heavily on 3d – the most notable thing I can remember from the keynote is “Soon we will be shooting everything in 3D and pulling the 2D elements out” – and I just hope that maybe by then they’ll improve 3D to the point where I can see it. (PSST: I am available to beta test a lot of things like that! I’m a willing scapegoat! I don’t eat much and I keep myself clean and entertained!)

The keynote really was amazing, and it was awesome being able to just listen to 2 obviously great minds banter about their passions. People following their passion is something I am always in favor for and will always support.

After the keynote, Tyson and I went our separate ways and I descended into the Pro Audio area. I love audio equipment. I love to play with it, I love to listen to it, it’s all shiny, new… and well, well out of my price range. Sigh. I immediately gravitated to one of my favorite booths from last year – Sennheiser/Neumann. I make no secret I am a huge fangirl, because last year, I finally found a pair of ($300) headphones that I (still) wish I had. This year? Found another pair I wish I had. The 30-35% hearing loss I have in my ears is drastic with better headphones. They make headphones that I cannot HEAR the difference. Basically, with normal headphones, I always feel like I have a piece of cotton on my left side – everything is slightly muted, it’s a bit off the highs and lows. I’ve grown accustomed to it.

However, at a show like this, I naturally gravitate to trying EVERY SHINY PIECE OF EQUIPMENT I CAN PAW GENTLY. Ahem. (I have OCOS- obsessive compuls–OOHSHINY. Explains much).

Back to Sennheiser. Their HD 25-I II headphones this year are “only” $199 and they also have no variance between my two ears. They sound THE SAME. I CAN HEAR THINGS. I undoubtedly will go over there every single day of the show just to listen and drool. They really are gorgeous though, along with the rest of them they have out, and they make great product. They also announced a couple of new mics yesterday and they really are lovely:

http://www.prosoundweb.com/article/sennheiser_announces_new_shotgun_microphones_at_nab_2011/

No, I’m not being paid for this promotional, but I do accept discounts on equipment @SennheiserUSA. Y’know. Like on headphones. or Mics….. *drool*

Ahem. Last year when I was here I methodically went through every hall, booth by booth.

My INTENTION yesterday was to do exactly that. This is more what happened.

Keynote > central > south > central > north > central > south > south > central > north > north > central.

I’m not actually sure that with all the exciting things going on this year I’ll be able to go booth by booth, unfortunately. That and I have a lot of interests on my own this year now that I’m more used to the ebb, flow, and layout of NAB. I have noticed this year, like last year, a lot of the presenters are either disinterested or tired of being here. ACTING, PEOPLE! nothing turns me off more in a booth than seeing interested people walk up to be ignored or half heartedly given an answer. Yes, I know having to work is a drag, but try not having a job for ~16 months.. then being asked all the time what kind of work you do. Plus, this is a really neat conference.

(Also. Males…. doesn’t matter what gender I am, I still love equipment, thank you for acting accordingly)

So after the keynote and while I am running around I check compulsively around Twitter.

There’s a group tweeting called Front Porch Digital (@fpdigitalcom) and they have a magician at their booth? And they’re actually tweeting with people and networking? SOLD! I run over to their booth, watch the magician (who was eerily good, really quite scary – magicians freak me out sometimes) and got to meet the actual voice behind the twitter account! We chatted for a while and I picked up my very first pen (please note, exhibitors, if you want a good mention in my blog, HAVE PENS. PEEEENSSSSSS – said like zombies!) Their product was really nice too, I should say, but check them out if you’re here. They’re over in N5806.

After that, I bum around North a bit more and gathered more pens I see that there’s a tweetup with @NABShow in South Upper, which is about as far away from the North Hall as humanly possible. Oh well, that’s what comfortable shoes are for. So I head up to South Upper and the Post Production Pit, and I got to meet @MitchArno and @KariRippetoe, and have some amazing conversations with them. I really want to be able to sit down at some point before this week is over and talk to them more! (as well as attend every tweetup humanly possible here at NAB). Unfortunately we were the only three at the tweetup… why? I’m not sure! there are tons of people on Twitter at NAB! Not so many companies… which should be rectified. (I have a great plan to merge the video/production portion of NAB with Social Media, stay tuned to this blog for details)

I got some awesome swag – pick of the litter! I always wanted a giant tshirt that’s very comfortable. Since I was in South, I poked around a bit before hitting up South Lower… man, am I glad I did.

Killer Tracks was here last year – very nice people, great music licensing group, very nice to everyone, bright shiny booth (SL7615). They always have nice bags and neat swag – this year it’s a flash drive that you can wear as a bracelet – probably one of the most unique giveaways I’ve sen on the floor – and as I’m walking by, I see a poster that says “Alex Band! Here at the booth at 2 pm” and literally scream “WHAAAAAAT”.

Long ago, in almost another lifetime, I did Music/Entertainment/Movie/Game promotion.

Loved doing it. Still do. And in this lifetime, we worked with RCA, and I worked with this at that time little known band called “The Calling”.. of which Alex Band was the lead singer. So, we go way back. Circa 2002-2003, which would have probably been the last time I saw them.

Needless to say, I was absolutely floored and thrilled. YAY LIVE MUSIC ON THE NAB SHOW FLOOR! LIVE MUSIC THAT I LOVE! So I furiously rearrange the few plans I have for the rest of

the day and plan to be back at the booth by about 1. And then my phone starts dying. Drained battery in about 4 hours. WOOPS. Reminder: Next year – more phone battery backups.

I forgot to eat lunch yesterday. So insert a glowing review of some local restaurant that simply has the world’s best fish and chips ever. Because that’s what I want for lunch today. mmm. food.

I honestly kind of forget where else I ran around between finding out about the show and going to it. Pretty sure I headed back to Central and went around more on the attempt for more pens.

Oh. I headed back to North Hall to try to find a charging station for my laptop and hit the wifi lounge.

THERE ARE NO OUTLETS IN THE WIFI LOUNGE THIS YEAR. SERIOUSLY WHAT? They had tons last year. The Wifi was – and still is – sketchy, but NO PLUGINS (There’s a bank of them near the vending machines in the middle of Central Hall, though, so that’s where I’ll be going to charge things)

So I made the long trek BACK to South Hall and hit the restroom. Normally I wouldn’t share this, but there’s a hysterical #overheardatNAB story.

I’m washing my hands and checking the makeup, like girls do in the bathroom, and I hear “Hey! You’re that girl from Twitter!”

*blink* “Yeah! you have the flower in your hair”

“Woah! it worked! Who are you?”

And that’s how I met @LeeLeeB, who is a great person and very sweet!

~

I’ll review the Alex Band show later on today, but right now the floor is open and I’m itching to get out there. See you @NABShow today! And please, stop and say hi to me if you see me! I don’t bite. (much.) And I’ve had my rabies shots. (promise).

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@AllegiantAir, @NABShow, @BallysVegas, and me. (T-minus 6 days!)

Well, it’s that time again – I start making crazy, off the wall, almost constant blog posts that either ramble, make no sense, or look like they come straight out of a magazine. Yes, it’s NAB Show time.

What’s NAB? National Association of Broadcasters trade show, where almost 100,000 people – mostly geeks, techies, and a few celebrities (it’s where I met Chris Hardwick and saw Stan Lee last year, among others… saw Giovanni Ribisi I believe it was?) descend on the Las Vegas Convention Center and surrounding hotels. Basically, it’s a week where I get to geek out, do my social media thing, look for a job, and at night, attempt to be a social butterfly and see what happens. So far quite literally I have things going every night I’m out there, and I still haven’t called another friend that I need to yet. Woops. :3

My packing list is rather long and needs to be culled, and I have quite a bit of homework left this week. Unfortunately it looks like I’ll have to do some homework when I’m in Vegas, but there I can quite literally turn off everything and be alone in a huge city with no one to bug me, barely anyone know where I am. (Almost. A few people will…) But sometimes I relish the thought of being set loose in Vegas. I am an adult, and I can do whatever I’d like to do – safely and responsibly, of course. Most of the time I just love to people watch.

Being on a budget is never fun, and my budget this year will be terribly tight. Pretty sure I won’t be doing any shopping aside from food this year, except to buy another nifty NAB Show pen (I lurve mine from last year) if it’s the same style. Oh well. I’ll toss $5 at the giant Bally’s machine because it’s fun to watch the giant dials spin. But I try to plan where I’m going to eat my way through Vegas, so if anyone has suggestions on great Fish and Chips.. or just good fries… let me know, and I’ll give it the treatment! Bonus if it’s not terribly expensive. Or, if anyone reading this (I never know) is someone that works at a place that’d LIKE me to review em, feel free to contact me!

But last year’s NAB is really when I started abusing Twitter, and this year I will be quite a bit more. I’m hoping I can do everything I’ve planned – as honestly there is tons of space I have absolutely nothing planned – and more. But we’ll see. I still haven’t gotten any more bites on interviews or anything, and while this bums me out, it lights a torch under my skirt. I really need a job, and I have a good feeling about this year.

And as Allegiant Air gave me a very great deal – no, quite literally, nonstop flight at decent times out of Wichita + prepaid bags round trip + 6 nights at Bally’s for $620 after all taxes and fees? – and Bally’s still is my favorite hotel on the strip – yeah, it’s not as flashy as Aria was, and it’s not quite as loud, or fancy, but for this mostly countrified city mouse, I know that Bally’s will feel pretty close to home. And their bathtubs are nice and comfy! I am, at heart, someone who’s done enough marketing to know that even a mention here and there could help them make a sale, so I have no problems giving that. (And, if Bally’s sees this and decides to upgrade me, I would write an even more glowing review! Wink wink, nudge nudge.)

So for the next week or so, most of my posts will be about NAB, interspersed with my normal stuff. And usually I wouldn’t feel like I had to list this, but as I realize it more and more, I’m best at being “randomgirl”, which is my old old OLD Xbox gamertag. So, I’d say forgive me for being random, but I revel in being random.

But 6 days, and I’ve barely started packing. Oh dear, I feel like I’m behind already…. and I think I need a bigger suitcase. But at least I’ve got the comfy shoes or a few, my list is made, I’ve got new friends to meet and old ones to reacquaint with this year… and that doesn’t include the people I don’t even know yet.

So welcome to the random and insane world of my blog, if you’re new (which, apparently a few people are). Stay around and talk awhile.

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@the3six5 post that was posted.

Every morning when I open my eyes, I peek through my blinds and see if it looks nice outside. Is it good enough to go practice freerunning or kick a (round) football around? Or is it another dreary day like the last few have been? Lately, it’s too cold and wet to do much of anything except sit inside and work on homework.

That’s one thing I have plenty of right now, homework. Spring break just ended, though my break hasn’t started yet. I worked all the way through Spring Break so I can postpone the majority of my free time to a little under two weeks from now, when I’ll be at the National Association of Broadcasters show in Las Vegas. This is my second year attending. My goals this year are to network, explore, and hopefully find a job. Job hunting exhausts me – this may sound silly, but after over 1400 applications, I can almost recite my resume from heart.

I’m really ready to have a job again. As much fun as it sounds “not having a job”, after exhausting unemployment benefits with no end in sight, that illusion is gone. I like feeling productive in society. I like knowing that the little bit I’ve squirreled away in savings can stay there. I appreciate knowing my cats have food and are current on their visits to the vet. I’m not entirely sure how I would have kept a job with 15 credit hours, but I could do it. I am very ready to try.

But why would I go to Vegas, which inevitably costs money? I don’t gamble for money, but call it a gut feeling. Something undefinable will happen in some great way. I’ve learned to trust my emotion and gut. I’ve been saving and scrimping for this show and giving up a lot of other things I’d like to have instead. I have always been taught that sometimes things need to be sacrificed for things that are wanted. It’s best to have goals and aspirations that are worth it.

Two weeks from now, I can be on the Strip. This thought will make me smile for the rest of today.

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Post a Week 2011 and why I’m participating.

I keep saying I’m going to write more, and I have been – just not here. I have a journal I got a couple of years ago from Someone Very Special to me, and the less I sleep lately, the more I write. (My overarching novel has been in process for over 6 years now, in bits and pieces, but mostly out of the dream world. Maybe some day I’ll share the basis for it, but it’s definitely not time to do that yet).

I read that WordPress is doing a Post A Week in 2011, and I think that’s more my style. I’d love to do Post A Day, but I don’t think I’m quite there yet. At least, via Post A Week, it’ll be better than no promise at all.

So, my promise is that at least once every week (Sunday-Saturday) I will have new posts.

Why is this important? Many reasons.

1. I’m participating in the 3six5 this year. I am absolutely thrilled and honored to be a part of it. It’s SUCH a great concept. (My day is March 29!)

2. I have some great blog ideas that I’d like to talk about – reviewing my new phone Kaylee (Samsung Continuum on Verizon, why I chose it over the Fascinate, my 6 month ordeal doing that); reviewing my absolute love for soccer/futbol; more music posts than you can shake a stick at; the ordeals of going back to college for the first time in 5 years; reviews for my upcoming trips… etc. This at least gives me a better goal.

3. That whole taking trips thing. Provided I can find work for it, @NABShow in April in Las Vegas (year 2! year 1 was awesome! I love it. I really do. I love going to trade shows. I learn so much, network more.. etc. Figured out my total costs for the show are under $800… which sure isn’t bad!) My trip to Chicago in May! I am seeing a friend who I haven’t seen in.. omg, almost 10 years (really Jen? 2002?) I’m finally seeing a Cubs game after being a fan since I was like 8 (there’s a great story here too)… visiting the Museum of Science and Industry for two days, which I am beyond excited about after being an entrant in Month at the Museum last year.

4. Going back to school. Nuff said. The more productive and creative I am there, the more it will manifest itself everywhere else.

So.. here’s my hopes for my year. And I hope I get more readers. And more feedback. The more I have feedback, the more I have to talk about.

.. if you know me, that may or may not be a good thing.

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NAB Show, year 2.

I filled out the paperwork again tonight for the NAB Show in Las Vegas in April. It was an amazing experience last year and I’m looking forward to it again this year.

I’m throwing this out there as well – any companies who would like to have a blogger/writer/someone who can work a crowd, a booth, a party at this year’s NAB – please drop me a line. I’m looking for as many jobs as I can throw my hands on to cover this year’s conference – or, honestly, anything else!

I’ve written up a couple blogs from last year (which I believe are in this journal, if not, they’re in my old writing journal) and if you’re so inclined you can check my twitter coverage by scanning into last year’s messages. I have many different forms of reporting experience from various conferences (GDC 08 and quite possibly my Otakon reports from the early 2000′s). I can do live tweetups, I can do live tweet/blogging from various events, I’m not desperate, I’m hungry, and there is a difference.

And this year, the writer takes over.

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