NAB Show Perspectives: The NAB Show is an opportunity for hope

I wasn’t going to attend the NAB Show this year. There’s just too much wrong with our industry: AI is sucking up jobs, technology is moving in directions I don’t understand, the economy is a mess, competition is increasing worldwide, and, frankly, life itself feels overwhelming.

Every press release tries to describe just how “disruptive” their great new idea is. I don’t want to be disrupted. I just want to be employed – in an industry that I love.

Sigh… It’s just easier to hide under my pillow. Easier, but that doesn’t fix anything.

We can either fight change or use it as an opportunity to do things differently. Rather than hide from all this bad news, I need to understand it. Rumors and hype always exceed reality. So, what’s really “real?”

That’s when I realized that attending the NAB Show in Las Vegas, this year in particular, is vital. It showcases what’s “really real.” In one place, we can talk with the companies driving change in our industry, along with those struggling to keep up. Here we can separate facts from overwhelming hype.

By wandering the halls of the show, I can learn whether that latest break-through technology is potentially useful or just smoke-and-mirrors. Discover what actually works vs. “what might work at some distant point in the future… maybe.”

Any trade show offers a chance to meet old friends. But in today’s world, we need to go beyond our normal boundaries and make new friends. Meet new clients. Expand our skills. Discover exciting new corners of media that we never knew existed.

The world is still stressful and our industry is still struggling. But, just as fear of the dark goes away when we turn on a light, attending the NAB Show will give me the chance to learn what’s true, rather than just fear the rumor.

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Attending the show won’t make all the stress disappear, but it will help me sleep better at night. And if, like me, you are looking for reassurance in a rapidly changing world, well, we can wave to each other at the show.

Larry JordanLarry Jordan is a member of the DGA, PGA and a 20-year veteran trainer in Apple, Adobe and Blackmagic media products. His website is: LarryJordan.com.