I get it. I know why they have conventions. The team work issue, being all on the same page, the allegiance to the corporate hive mind, these are important things to do; to both reward the successful and indoctrinate the undecided. The scope is pretty amazing however, 16,000 marketing people, from ALL over the world flown to Denver, hoteled and fed, entertained and propagandized with company messaging. Millions spent on Vegas style keynote speeches and recognition. I went as an audio/editor on a couple small videos and spent five days and nights there. I traveled with and worked with the amazing "Sugar Ray" Woodhouse and the luminescent Abby Katzmann (who are also married, with offspring, I am told) . And the money and expense account did flow. There was a rumor of Lady GaGa playing the closing night. The miracle is that it comes off at all. The clients want full control but sometimes seem reluctant to give opinions until it's too late or want to give suggestions at the point of no return. Micromanagement and seat of your pants, hair on fire panic mashed up into a paste of confusion and stress. This actually according to the veterans of such things was calm and easy. I live in a small hole in hobbitown where this was considered strange and frightening. The whipping up of a crowd to support software and service sales is not all that much different than political or religious frenzies that we have witnessed. Is the cult to be feared or embraced?
The Denver I saw was nice. Food was good, people were friendly, downtown seemed vibrant. I rode home on my flight next to an Indian American (as opposed to an American Indian) who told me I had seen a rarefied version of Colorado, outside of downtown it was all redneck "cowboy" culture, and he was moving back to Seattle. I did meet up with old friend Frank Alli and some of his Denver family. I was adopted in to the Espinosa clan of Denver.
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