May 8th, 2002 – Hmmm….slow show.  I am irritated today for a few reasons.  I didn’t sleep well (a common issue in Las Vegas for me) and some stuff came up in conversation with some other people that riled me a bit.  Nothing big…I just need to blow it off.  

 

I did get a few toys today and one additional t-shirt (that is too small).  One vendor (an acquaintance) I was talking to told me about the ‘local talent’ they hire here to work the shows.  It works like this.  They hire cute girls from a local agency, teach them a few lines about their product and if questions are asked, the girls redirect the ‘customer’ to an engineer or sales guy.  I always suspected this was the case but this confirmed it.

 

I am again going to submit my request for the computer press to grab the brass ring and move to slam the poor displays.  This year, I have seen some outright insulting displays coming from vendors.  Too much money being spent on Kelly Bundy look-alike bimbos who leave IT professionals not able to remember the company’s name or product or, worse yet, feeling the company was insulting to their field of expertise. 

 

I am horribly glad the show did allow wireless at this year’s show.  I do regret I do not have a cell phone that allows IM since it is not really viable to carry around my laptop and check for instant messages.  Maybe by next year, I will have 802.11 running on a handheld PC.  Maybe by next year, some other people will bother to show up here.

 

Well, I think I am off to eat.  Maybe Quarks today since I have had Italian the last two nights.  If not, who knows.