Gudgel and I hit Vegas about Noon… Right after we stopped at the Mad Greek. (I was told, “You Have to check it out”) Checked in and got our badges for the expo. Immediately I was thrilled at the size and the scope of the event. We checked into the room at the Hilton (which was snazzy, Thanks Dave) and then the lounge for some munchies.
The big fun happened when Blog4Tix hooked us up with some tickets to the Blue Man Group. I’ve received tickets in the past for events and it’s usually a good time. I have to say this was a whole new level of amazing because we got 4th row center! Blue Man Group has always been a great act combining elements of humor and music together is a blend that is engaging and fun to watch. I don’t want to spoil the show but the production coordination on this show is really impressive. Music cues for chomping Cap’n’ Crunch, the talent to catch gumballs and marshmallows at such a rapid pace and black lights that change the experience in the blink of an eye.
The show is really interactive and wearing a poncho or rain slicker (depending which part of the country you’re in) there was real terror at every turn that we were going to be doused with something at any moment. The music was equal parts Explosions in the Sky and The World Inside – but with a twist of Gallagher, it’s on a different level. I’d highly recommend checking it out.
After the show we went to the Mirage Hotel for the Techset After party. Great location and the music was a lot of fun. I got to meet up with Julie Smith from ShareThis – I love this plug-in!!! ShareThis gives so much integration to a site with very little (if any) configuration. I’m using it on The Drop, Meet The Casting Director (an actors workshop lead by Jerold Franks, past president of The Casting Society of America and he also cast LOST) and it’s a part of the roll out of the new Union Rescue Mission website (Sept 30th)
Also at the party a new service Tagga just launched in August and I was really impressed with the team of Amielle and Ryan. It’s a mobile messaging service using SMS and I was wrapping my head around the possibilities last night. I fully plan on integrating it with my projects in the very near future.
Last great conversation happened with gooseGrade’s CEO John Brooks Pounders. gooseGrade (lowercase is intentional) is a grammar helper for guys like me. Misspellings and bad grammar is the norm (and I’m sorry) on my sites. gooseGrade is an easy way to fix the problem and make the blogger look good in the meantime. Check out the video here.
That’s day one… day two is shaping up nicely.
