Wednesday
The first leg of my journey began on May 17th with a Belfast to Manhattan direct flight. I had a one day layover before another early morning start for a train to Boston. This gig, the JPMorgan Technology '07 Conference, was one of my big ones of the year. I worked as a backstage Tech on this investor conference from May 19th to the 23rd.
For those not in the heart of the tech game, these conferences are important events. Hundreds of millions exchange hands based on the information released by CEO's and CFO's and in back room wheeling and dealing. That's why I get paid well to travel a long distance just to be a webcast editor. They cannot afford failure, and if things do go wrong they want people who are overskilled enough to not panic and to solve the problem.
Our glorious leader tried to foresee the unforseeable or at the very least make sure everyone knew what they had to do.
Behind the scenes: a pre-show Tech briefing.
Photo: copyright Dale Amon, All Rights Reserved
Despite all the prep and redundancy and effort... gremlins will have their day. Just as the lights came up during an early Monday morning session... the entire hotel blacked out. Lighting boards. Sound boards. Television cameras. The video mixing desk. Registration servers. Video projectors. Streaming servers... and of course the Editing stations of my demesne. All hell broke loose... but in less than 15 minutes the hotel power problem was found, circuits repatched and every team had their gear synced up and back on the air. That's how the pro's do it.
No expense is spared. Well, almost...anyone got a match? A spare nuclear power plant?
Photo: copyright Dale Amon, All Rights Reserved
I did not get to see much of the show unless you count occasionally looking over my shoulder and watching it in reverse.
My view of the show.
Photo: copyright Dale Amon, All Rights Reserved
The hours are long but there are perks working a job like this. For one, I get a very nice free room, and these things are not held in one star squats. As you can see, I had a lovely view of the harbour. I also had a panorama of the Charles River and the Boston skyline.
To top it off, the team is one of the best I have ever worked with. 'The craic is mighty' as one might hear in Belfast.
Some perks come with the job: a view of Boston Harbour from my room.
Photo: copyright Dale Amon, All Rights Reserved
On the last day I rushed to finish my Editing tasks in time to strike my gear and flag a taxi to the railway station. I had a flight out of JFK to catch at 0500 and I left Boston only twelve hours earlier. The train takes a very scenic coastal route. I highly recommend the Boston to New York train for that and as a way to not go through the indignities of airport security.
There are a lot of boats on the New England coast...
Photo: copyright Dale Amon, All Rights Reserved
'Craic' is sort of a reference to having lots of fun, like sitting around in a great music session drinking Guinness and people tossing out great stories and painful puns while great looking members of the opposite sex try to chat you up.
Well, working this show isnt' quite like that, but working with this crew is a lot of fun and we do have a good time while working hard.
Posted by Dale Amon at July 12, 2007 06:28 PM
Dale, as your surname is that of an Egyptian God, you should know things like how the natives spell 'harbour'. They seem to feel it should be 'Harbor'! They do harbour some odd notions, but when in Boston, you should spell like the Bostonites do, or they might tie you to a rocket in a frenzy of patriotism!
And how long before NASA offers trips into space for average people, like those Europeans are claiming to be about to do?
Posted by nick g. at July 13, 2007 04:18 AM
