Experiences abound at conference -- and beyond

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It was an exciting and revelatory moment for me. So naturally, I tweeted about it.

"I just had my first-ever 3D experience and James Cameron was in the room! How cool is THAT! NAB rocks!"

NAB is the National Association of Broadcasters show, which takes place annually at the Las Vegas Convention Center. It might be better termed the International Association of Broadcasters, since more than 90,000 people from all over the world attend the event. I spoke with people from Japan, China, Saudi Arabia, and Norway, just to mention a few.

The conference, including a mind-bogglingly-extensive trade show as well as Post-Production World — five days worth of sessions with luminaries at the top of their respective professions — is the world’s largest event focusing on the development, management and delivery of content across all mediums — film, TV, radio, new and social media. I mean, you name it, and it’s there.

For the second year in a row, I was fortunate enough to attend this stellar event with colleagues and some of my second-year Assiniboine Community College students in the Media Production stream of the Interactive Media Arts program. While I don’t usually mix my day job of teaching journalism and TV performance at ACC with my part-time gig writing for the Brandon Sun, the import of the NAB event, and the things I discovered outside of conference hours about wine in what’s become an entertainment mecca, begged to be told.

To say the students were jazzed about NAB would be an understatement. The sheer volume of new technology available for them to see in action and explore, hands-on, was almost overwhelming. Add to that the in-depth sessions in Post-Production World, where they could hear from, and pick the brains of, top-notch experts in the business — well, there’s simply nothing that equates with it for an aspiring media professional.

ACC prides itself in providing students with "exceptional learning experiences," and NAB is certainly at the top of the list of those. But what fascinated me almost as much as the bedazzlement of the show was what these twenty-somethings learned by doing, or in some instances, not doing.

‘Learning’ and ‘experience’ can take many forms. The career benefits of attending the show are readily evident. But perhaps what’s not as easily seen is how much education takes place and how many new experiences unfold outside the (albeit extensive) confines of the conference.

Discovering that one has the ability to successfully negotiate an unfamiliar city where temptation, in many forms, lurks at every turn, is an exhilarating learning experience. Conquering uncertainties, fears and insecurities also has to rank highly on the list of exceptional achievements.

But here’s where it got extra-interesting for me. While most were on a limited budget, some of the students were determined to expand their horizons in terms of attending professional, top-quality live shows, such as Cirque du Soleil, The Blue Man Group, and The Phantom of the Opera. Others enjoyed their first ultra-high-end dining experience, and came away saying it was the best meal — and the best service — they’d ever had.

Since most were under 21, which is legal age in Nevada, they drank water or pop during their week at NAB. As one of the young men put it, "There’s no point having the trip of a lifetime if you can’t remember it."

Wise words from one so young.

While I more than admire the approach taken by the students, I, being somewhat more than legal age in every jurisdiction on the planet, managed to sample some decent wine during my dinners — many of them spectacular — in the evenings I spent in that desert city.

As visitors to Vegas have noted in recent years, what used to be a cheap getaway is no longer. While I maintain one has to work really hard to get a lousy meal in Vegas, you certainly pay through the nose for the great ones you DO have.

Since discovering The Strip Store in Planet Hollywood last year, I made a return visit this time around because that’s where I'd enjoyed the best rack of lamb I'd ever had. And the establishment didn't disappoint this year either, but the entree, which came only with sauce — side dishes were à la carte — set me back $45. Worth it, yes, but add one glass of good Cabernet for $18, and a pleasant Shiraz for $16, plus tax and tip, and that was a pricey meal.

But as they say, when in Rome....

So after long days at the conference, I treated myself to some wonderful meals in the evenings, because that's what I love to do. I adore Le Provencal at the Paris Hotel — an AMAZING antipasto tray for $13, suitable for sharing by two to six people, fabulous salmon (I ate a lot of salmon in Vegas, because it's fresh and the chefs all prepare it medium rare, just the way I like it) for $28, and splendid veal in a creamy mushroom and gorgonzola sauce for $33.

I was thrilled to discover Le Provencal had the MacMurray Ranch Pinot Noir on its wine list, a beverage I'd first tried at the Westman Wine Festival two or three years ago. Since I love Pinot with both salmon and veal, that choice was a no-brainer, since the MacMurray Ranch is a lovely, lovely beverage. A bottle in the restaurant was $46 — not bad when one considers it sells for more than $20 in Manitoba. But it's a California wine, so it's produced only a few hundred miles away, as opposed to the thousands of miles it has to travel to get here.

So I’ll have more about the wine prices in Vegas in an upcoming column, as well as offer some recommendations of wines to try if you’re planning to travel there anytime soon. In the meantime, here’s to the IMA Media Production Class of 2012. Thanks for making me proud of all of you. And thanks for the memories.

Republished from the Brandon Sun print edition May 5, 2012