131st AES Convention Opening Day
The Audio Engineering Society reports that the 131st AES Convention, held from October 20-23 in New York City’s Javits Center, saw 310 Exhibitors and 15,926 attendees.
“Soon after the curtains fell on last year’s event, our 2011 Committee began the first of over a dozen intensive planning meetings,” reports Convention Chair Jim Anderson. “Each Chair brought an extraordinary degree of commitment, enthusiasm and professionalism to the table. The results of their labors registered rave reviews and high praise from attendees and exhibitors alike.”
Exhibitors offered positive feedback on their experiences.
“I was taken by surprise when the first day of the show ended,” says Mick Olesh, Waves executive vice president. “The number of qualified customers and end-users who passed through our booth was overwhelming.”
Focusrite (at left) and Avid’s booths in a 131st AES Convention exhibit hall
“Right up until the last five minutes of the show, the intensity of the good, qualified traffic was far beyond our expectations,” says Genelec marketing director Will Eggleston. “This year’s AES Convention had the feeling and pace of the glory days.”
“As first-time exhibitors, we were delighted with numbers and quality of visitors to our booth,” says Moog Music Inc. senior marketing and brand manager, Emmy Parker. “Their level of interest in our new products and our legacy was particularly gratifying. We are already thinking about the 133rd Convention in San Francisco next year.”
P&E Wing Senior Executive Director Maureen Droney says, “It’s always wonderful to be at the AES convention, where you can re-connect with old friends and make new ones. The mood was upbeat this year, we had good traffic at the Recording Academy booth, and I heard other exhibitors were also having a good show. The aisles were full of people and the energy was great.”
The four-day event included special appearances by iconic recording artists Judy Collins and Ben Folds; Platinum Producer, Engineer and Mastering Panels; Technical Tours; Live Sound, Educational and Historical Presentations; and Lunchtime Keynotes for more than 70 cumulative hours of invaluable information.
Avid debuted and demonstrated its new Pro Tools|HDX system and Pro Tools 10 software at the 131st AES Convention.
Anderson adds, “Broadcast & Streaming Events Chair, David Bialik; Education Chair John Krivit; Facilities Chair, Michael McCoy; Games Track Chair, Steve Martz; Historical Chair, Harry Hirsch; Live Sound Co-Chairs Henry Cohen and Mac Kerr; Master Class Chair, Alan Silverman; Papers Co-Chairs Veronique Larcher and Agnieszka Roginska; Platinum Co-Chairs, Janice Brown, Bob Ludwig and David Weiss; Product Design Track Co-Chairs, Bob Moses and Jonathan Novick; Technical Tours Chair, Lou Manno; Volunteers Chair, Doron Schacter; and Workshops/Tutorials Chair Natanya Ford all performed above and beyond the call of duty.
“Beyond coordinating Historical events, Harry Hirsch took advantage of the proximity of a number of pivotal contributors to advances in the art and science of pro audio, to produce additions to the ongoing AES Oral History Project. Interviews conducted by industry ombudsman Paul Gallo include multi-Platinum producer/engineer Tony Visconti, studio entrepreneur Howie Schwartz, and AES doyen Irv Joel.
“Lastly, Executive Director Roger Furness remained an indomitable source of organizational and motivational direction throughout the year-long process,” Anderson concludes. “His invaluable experience in coordinating these enormously complex programs, his ability to deal with disparate issues ranging from logistics, budgets, venue wrinkles, last minute program changes and the myriad details—enormous and minuscule, which need to interface—provided the Committee with a reassuring comfort level of professionalism. At the end of the day, when questions arose, Roger Furness was the man we turned to for decisions.”
The 132nd European Audio Engineering Convention will be held in Hungary’s Budapest Congress & World Trade Center, April 26-29, 2012. The 133rd AES Convention is scheduled for October 26-29, 2012, in San Francisco’s Moscone Center.
Visit the AES at www.aes.org.
