Have you ever wondered if commercials on tv really work? They do - especially "Build-a-Bear" commercials. My 10 year old went online and informed me that she needed a bear from Build-a-Bear to play in the online virtual world. Being a dutiful mother, I went to Build-a-Bear in Las Vegas. Choosing a critter and appropriate clothing took longer than it actually should have. But, I feel that I have chosen wisely.
Today, I ventured to one of the outlet malls. I have never been there and realized that I needed that experience. The mall was an outdoor mall. How smart was that? It's 107 outside and they mist water throughout the mall. What is wrong with that picture? Anyway, I braved the elements and walked by every shop. I went in many of the stores, but only made purchases as Clark (shoes) and Coach (purses and accessories).
The cab rides to and from the outlet mall were "interesting". The outlet mall was located near downtown Las Vegas. I was able to see the "other side" of Las Vegas.
2008-06-20
InfoComm 08
The north and central halls were full of great vendors. Below are a few that I visited and wanted to share with you.
WolfVision - They have a new VZ-6 Light. MSU deploys the VZ-8 Light. The VZ-8 product is still the product of choice. In the fall, the VZ-8 light will have a new lens. Their ceiling document cameras are terrific. Their lowest end camera is still excellent. The other 2 ceiling cameras have a light that zooms with the zooming of the camera. The cost difference is significant (about $10,000 difference). I talked with one of their representatives from Europe. She was great - and she gave me some serious swag - an electric cooking fork!
Barix - Great company, great product. The Barix people are very friendly and eager to help meet your needs. Johannes, the President, was there as well. Received Swiss chocolates from them!
Spectrum Industries - The variety and quality of lecterns was excellent. I visited with 3 other lectern manufacturers at InfoComm, and I came back to Spectrum. The quality and price is right. The only drawback is that the sides of the lectern are a thick metal mesh. On the flip side, the lectern is lighter weight and would not have issues with cooling. Other highlights: keyboard drawer has a flip down lip with gel wrist pad. strong casters, handles for ease of movement, variety of sizes, and a good price. There are a variety of options for each lectern. If there is no customization to a lectern, order by Thursday then receive the following week. Another selling point - they have metal cut-outs for the front of the lectern. The set up fee for the metal cut out is around $500, but then after that each metal piece is no higher than $50. A metal stand for use in medical settings looks like a natural fit for ITS when laptops are needed for Orientation or other events. The new products are not online yet!!!!!
There were huge sections for audio, lighting and staging, digital signage, conferencing. There were so many vendors, it's hard to highlight them all.
WolfVision - They have a new VZ-6 Light. MSU deploys the VZ-8 Light. The VZ-8 product is still the product of choice. In the fall, the VZ-8 light will have a new lens. Their ceiling document cameras are terrific. Their lowest end camera is still excellent. The other 2 ceiling cameras have a light that zooms with the zooming of the camera. The cost difference is significant (about $10,000 difference). I talked with one of their representatives from Europe. She was great - and she gave me some serious swag - an electric cooking fork!
Barix - Great company, great product. The Barix people are very friendly and eager to help meet your needs. Johannes, the President, was there as well. Received Swiss chocolates from them!
Spectrum Industries - The variety and quality of lecterns was excellent. I visited with 3 other lectern manufacturers at InfoComm, and I came back to Spectrum. The quality and price is right. The only drawback is that the sides of the lectern are a thick metal mesh. On the flip side, the lectern is lighter weight and would not have issues with cooling. Other highlights: keyboard drawer has a flip down lip with gel wrist pad. strong casters, handles for ease of movement, variety of sizes, and a good price. There are a variety of options for each lectern. If there is no customization to a lectern, order by Thursday then receive the following week. Another selling point - they have metal cut-outs for the front of the lectern. The set up fee for the metal cut out is around $500, but then after that each metal piece is no higher than $50. A metal stand for use in medical settings looks like a natural fit for ITS when laptops are needed for Orientation or other events. The new products are not online yet!!!!!
There were huge sections for audio, lighting and staging, digital signage, conferencing. There were so many vendors, it's hard to highlight them all.
2008-06-19
Las Vegas Tips
When it's 107 degrees outside, it's not the heat coming down that will get you, but the heat coming up from the concrete. OMG - my feet were scorching today when I mistakenly decided to WALK to the Wynn hotel from the Convention Center. It looked so close. And, it was the same route that Jim Harfst, Glenna Sullivan and I took when we were at NAB 2006. I thought I could handle it.
Thank goodness I knew there was a Walgreens ahead. That is about all that kept me going. I stood in from of the refrigerated drinks to cool down - I am so not kidding. I got water while I was there and more bandaids for my feet. I wasn't getting blisters from my shoes, but from the bottom of my feet rubbing on my sandals. In Mississippi, there is enough humidity that there is no rubbing.
After a few minutes in Walgreens, I kept on my journey to the Wynn. I was now walking on the Strip. Several hundred more feet and I decided I needed to walk on the opposite side of the sidewalk. In case I fainted, I didn't want to fall into the blazing fast traffic. Just the night before a pedestrian was killed by a car on the Strip. The heat from the concrete was unbelievable. I was wearing a sundress and my feet and legs were scorching, not my shoulders. I was not feeling very good.
I did make it to the Wynn. The hotel/casino was fabulous. They have very comfortable chairs in the sports area. I sat and watched horse racing.
The $10 taxi ride back to my hotel was the BEST $10 I spent today. I did spend time at the Wynn and then at the shops across the street.
Tip #1: Don't WALK anyway in 107 degree heat in Vegas.
Tip #2: Take a taxi everywhere.
Tip #3: If you need to sit somewhere, the only place available is in the Casino.
Thank goodness I knew there was a Walgreens ahead. That is about all that kept me going. I stood in from of the refrigerated drinks to cool down - I am so not kidding. I got water while I was there and more bandaids for my feet. I wasn't getting blisters from my shoes, but from the bottom of my feet rubbing on my sandals. In Mississippi, there is enough humidity that there is no rubbing.
After a few minutes in Walgreens, I kept on my journey to the Wynn. I was now walking on the Strip. Several hundred more feet and I decided I needed to walk on the opposite side of the sidewalk. In case I fainted, I didn't want to fall into the blazing fast traffic. Just the night before a pedestrian was killed by a car on the Strip. The heat from the concrete was unbelievable. I was wearing a sundress and my feet and legs were scorching, not my shoulders. I was not feeling very good.
I did make it to the Wynn. The hotel/casino was fabulous. They have very comfortable chairs in the sports area. I sat and watched horse racing.
The $10 taxi ride back to my hotel was the BEST $10 I spent today. I did spend time at the Wynn and then at the shops across the street.
Tip #1: Don't WALK anyway in 107 degree heat in Vegas.
Tip #2: Take a taxi everywhere.
Tip #3: If you need to sit somewhere, the only place available is in the Casino.
EduComm Vendors
EduComm has some great vendors! Below is a list and why I like them.
ChunkIt! - Free toolbar that adds functionality to current search engines. It's really a cool product and I will be using it!
Polycom - The Polycom Instructor FS was displayed. It was beautiful. The stand looked terrific too. A perfect system to place in an administrative conference room. They wanted to give me brochures. I declined saying that it was on the web. They were thrilled that someone "got it" in terms of not needing a piece of paper when the information was already online.
OnPoint Lasers - Their lasers were green and extremely bright. I was very impressed and intend on recommending that we purchase a few for demo purposes. They have a product that will advance powerpoint slides in addition to the laser pointer. Good price point too.
Panopto - Another FREE product for qualified academic institutions. The product is a lecture capture technology. It's software based. The output is windows media. The intent with academic institutions is to be a part of the Socrates Project - a community to share best practices, enhancements, etc.
TechSmith Relay - This software product is designed to capture the computer screen. The difference in this product and other TechSmith products is that Relay is designed for extreme ease of use with limited settings. Drexel University co-presented with TechSmith. Drexel has a neat product - DragonDrop. Relay and DragonDrop are products worth looking at!
Presentation Podiums - At Educomm, there was one cabinetry vendor - KlassTech. They had very nice podiums. I liked how the monitor was attached with an arm giving more desktop real estate. This would also allow for a slightly larger monitor which may be needed.
Echo360 - What a great product. The features of this hardware and software solution provides most of the features I have been looking for. The quality of images is unbelievable. No preloading of presentations. Just teaching from a lectern using doc cam, pc, dvd player and this appliance will capture it. Multiple publishing options. When viewing, can move easily throughout the presentation by clicking on screenshots. Worth discussing!
ChunkIt! - Free toolbar that adds functionality to current search engines. It's really a cool product and I will be using it!
Polycom - The Polycom Instructor FS was displayed. It was beautiful. The stand looked terrific too. A perfect system to place in an administrative conference room. They wanted to give me brochures. I declined saying that it was on the web. They were thrilled that someone "got it" in terms of not needing a piece of paper when the information was already online.
OnPoint Lasers - Their lasers were green and extremely bright. I was very impressed and intend on recommending that we purchase a few for demo purposes. They have a product that will advance powerpoint slides in addition to the laser pointer. Good price point too.
Panopto - Another FREE product for qualified academic institutions. The product is a lecture capture technology. It's software based. The output is windows media. The intent with academic institutions is to be a part of the Socrates Project - a community to share best practices, enhancements, etc.
TechSmith Relay - This software product is designed to capture the computer screen. The difference in this product and other TechSmith products is that Relay is designed for extreme ease of use with limited settings. Drexel University co-presented with TechSmith. Drexel has a neat product - DragonDrop. Relay and DragonDrop are products worth looking at!
Presentation Podiums - At Educomm, there was one cabinetry vendor - KlassTech. They had very nice podiums. I liked how the monitor was attached with an arm giving more desktop real estate. This would also allow for a slightly larger monitor which may be needed.
Echo360 - What a great product. The features of this hardware and software solution provides most of the features I have been looking for. The quality of images is unbelievable. No preloading of presentations. Just teaching from a lectern using doc cam, pc, dvd player and this appliance will capture it. Multiple publishing options. When viewing, can move easily throughout the presentation by clicking on screenshots. Worth discussing!
2008-06-17
EduComm 2008
EduComm 2008 begins tomorrow morning. I can't wait to hear the keynote, David Pogue, the personal-technology writer for the New York Times. He was a great presenter last year and his content was outstanding.
I'm sharing 2 presentations tomorrow:
1. Wireless Network Access for Campus Guests
2. Building a Digital Asset Management System: myMedia
To view the handouts and other resources, visit my EduComm page in myMedia.
Come to my sessions to hear about the GREAT things Mississippi State University is accomplishing.
I'm sharing 2 presentations tomorrow:
1. Wireless Network Access for Campus Guests
2. Building a Digital Asset Management System: myMedia
To view the handouts and other resources, visit my EduComm page in myMedia.
Come to my sessions to hear about the GREAT things Mississippi State University is accomplishing.
Welcome
Hi and welcome to the "TechnoChiK" blog. I have several blogs for events and classes. This is my first blog that attempts to consolidate all of my blogs into one. Enjoy reading!
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