Apr
1
Written
4/1/2010 7:37 AM
--Frank Wells
We live in a world that finds most of us spending ever
more time behind our computers and various portable computing devices.
Increasingly, we are interacting with the world at large through the portal of these
gadgets, even as we are also relying on them more as tools of our trade. While
traditional informational outlets like Pro Sound News are a
part of how we stay informed and in touch, there’s also an electronic world’s
worth of information available at our fingertips through the magic of ether
borne bits flying between us. PSN’s Facebook page and Twitter
feeds are evidence of this, along with our daily e-newsletter and our website.
Far removed from the days where our electronic interface was limited to text
alone, video and audio are now a part of the web infrastructure (you’ll find
tags throughout this issue where stories and product releases from the recent
Winter NAMM show have corresponding video components online, for example) and
even real time virtual interaction is possible.
These are all good things, increasing our ability to
learn and stay informed. We can’t all travel to each and every convention and
seminar we’d like to attend, and the resources available through the virtual
world give us unprecedented opportunities to benefit from events that we may
not be able to attend.
That said, there’s a strong case to be made for
face-to-face interaction. As marvelous as all the new technologies are, there
is still enormous value in the real world of voice and ear, handshake and eye
contact. The “who you know” element is still a big deal in business, and the
lasting relationships that are born of shared experience are far more difficult
to build on virtual communication.
The large annual tradeshows and conventions are one
avenue for keeping your experience real, and for audio professionals and
professionals in the making, there’s still no better single, immersive
experience than the annual AES conventions. Closer to home there are free
seminars and lectures as well as paid events like mini conventions and
conferences. Organizations like SMPTE (smpte.org) and SBE (sbe.org) host
broadcast audio oriented events, and for live sound and install there’s NSCA
(nsca.org) and InfoCOMM (infocomm.org). There’re private organizations like the
Music & Engineering Alliance (METAlliance.com) holding events like their
very exclusive upcoming two-day live recording and mixing event, as well as
major market events hosted by local sections of the Recording Academy’s P&E
wing (grammy.com/Recording_Academy/Producers_and_Engineers/) like the upcoming
(as I write)February’s “An evening in the studio with Bill Szymczyk” in Miami
and last year’s “In the studio with Sennheiser and Neumann” and “Recording the
Beatles.”
Manufacturers have regional and traveling seminars.
Universities host events and presentations (I plan on visiting Middle Tennessee
State University this week to hear Floyd Toole speak, for instance). And,
there’s your local AES section and other sections in your region holding
frequent meetings on a wide range of topics. Often, on a grander scale, local
AES sections team up for major events with educational institutions like the
Boston Area Definitive Student Summit (BADASS — heyaudiostudent.com) held each September
at the New England Institute of Art (NEIA also co-hosted, with the Education
Committee of the Audio Engineering Society, a recent free event recording a
jazz band direct to Edison cylinder — there’s video of this event online at
prosoundnews.com). The Webster University Student Section has their annual
Student Summit with an ambitious and successful program including sessions that
students and pros alike (www.webster.edu/aes/); the fourth annual Webster event
is scheduled this year for late March. And in early March there’s the Nashville
Recording Workshop + Expo 2010, presented by the AES Nashville Section and Mike
Curb College of Entertainment & Music Business, in conjunction with the
Audio Engineering Society, designed to share the expertise of audio
professionals with home studio owners, be they engineers, musicians or
songwriters.
By all means, use the wondrous web for all it offers.
But, make part of your online routine using the web as a tool to find out
what’s going on around you. Much as we are all prone to praise the virtues of
live musical experiences, so it goes with professional interaction.