Bigfoot Spotted at NAB

Deborah McAdams is the Executive Editor of TV Technology.

Actually, the NAB Show is the last place anyone would notice Sasquatch. He doesn’t seem to have much in the way of a PR agency for one thing. That really matters when you’re one of 1,500 companies vying for the attention of 1,000 journalists, most of whom are in the Hilton Ballrooms waiting for Post-Newsweek chief Alan Frank to put the FCC’s lead spectrum taker, Bill Lake, in a full Nelson. Not even a Sasquatch in Christmas lights is going to get ink on that day. Maybe page three, below the fold.

Once again, we have the dual trade shows that comprise the annual NAB pageant in the desert. In this corner, we have the celebrity host of “Entertainment Tonight,” Mary Hart. And in this corner, quite a few guys in polo shirts with advanced engineering degrees.

This could have something to do with why those of us in the trade press are virtually inundated with requests for meetings during the show. The calls typically start in January, along with an avalanche of press releases. Hundreds, conservatively— many written by folks who have a unique take on the English language and its application in communication.

Then you get the follow-up phone calls. “Did you get my press release?” Right. The one with “WARNING: THIS IS NOT A VIRUS!” in the subject line. That sure made me want to open it. Here’s a newsflash. Write a clear, concise headline and a clear concise press release, and maybe take a quick glance at the publication you’re soliciting. Or at least be funny. Funny is good about now, when our workload, which already leaves no time to scratch, has quadrupled.

And thank you for the cocktail parties. Sincerely. But we’re probably hammering away on deadline, eating a stale cheese sandwich. If Sasquatch wanders by, we’ll likely ask him if he has a thumb drive.