FFWD>>64 Film Shoot

Flash back to last April when we attended WinHEC (Windows Hardware Engineering Conference) in Seattle. You may recall that I was one of the 64 x64 VIP enthusiasts chosen to help launch x64, Windows XP 64-bit Edition, during the conference. Among many activities surrounding the event, I participated in the making of a video capturing the x64 Launch for Microsoft (to refresh your memory, take a look at THIS POST).

Now fast forward to preparations for CES. With hundreds of thousands on the show floor, Microsoft decided to use the opportunity to shoot another film about x64. This would be an in-house project designed to help the Windows Team in learning just how the industry is accepting 64-bit computing, their knowledge of x64, and how it has helped them in their computing lives. Naturally, it made sense to call on those of us who had participated in the launch event at WinHEC to be involved in this project. So when I received the email inviting me to be a part of "FFWD>>64 at CES," I jumped at the chance.

There were 4 slots available and the only one which fit into my schedule was Friday from 2:30-5:00 PM. So as soon as our CES Tent event wrapped up, I headed inside to catch a quick bite in the pressroom before meeting the crew at the Microsoft booth. You may recall that at this point I'd eaten a cookie. Well, no such luck. I had a few moments to fire off a quick report back to you guys and then it was time to meet up with the folks from the company hired to do the shoot.

After a quick orientation, we headed out into the crowd. Our friend Terri Stratton of TabletPC was our "wrangler," helping to round up interviewees. My job was to be the interviewer. We found a couple of nice spots to setup and went to work. I'd hardly call it work, though. With a background in broadcasting, this comes natural to me and with the help of the most professional crew imaginable -- from the director to the cameraman to the sound man and all the PA's (Production Assistants) -- I had a blast.

The hours flew by like minutes. Despite the fact that I had eaten one cookie, my hunger dissipated. I was running on adrenaline. At one point, the terrific crew actually headed off to round up some munchies for me. Nothing could be found. But the fact that they tried spoke volumes about their professionalism. It was the most fun I'd had so far at the CES.

Before I knew it, 5:30 rolled around and I would have just enough to time to grab a shuttle bus back to the hotel to get ready for our final night's Community Dinner. And you know what? I figured it was just as well I'd only eaten a cookie that day. Little did I know the kind of meal that awaited me.

The Community Dinner -- Grand Finale

The time had finally arrived -- our very last official event for the Featured Communities as Microsoft's guests at CES. The invitations said "Community Dinner at rm at Mandalay Bay." Little did we know what was in store for us.

Mandalay Bay impressed me more than any other resort I had been in. Towering, sprawling, luxurious beyond belief, this was the hotel where the Community Mixer had taken place the evening before. I had wandered past many of the restaurants that line the lobby and casino floor, not knowing that I'd soon be spending a few hours in one of them, enjoying one of the most amazing meals of my life.

Shuttle vans arrived at the Polo Towers to take us to the location. We piled in, tired and hungry and anxious to sit and relax and dine with our hosts. I was hungry. All I had all day was a cookie. But you know that. Once at Mandalay Bay came the now-familiar hunt for the meeting point. Figuring out how to go, when to go, and where to go has been the theme all week. So of course, we got lost inside the hotel. Finally, after about 15 minutes of wandering around, we found rm. It's an upscale seafood restaurant. I like fish. We had a big private room reserved for us, with 7 tables of 7.

I picked a table and sat. Others filed in and took various seats around the room. Finally, Aaron and Jed walked in. Naturally, I wanted to be at "the" table. "The" table would be the one with the action, the one with the fun, the one where the "big guys" sat (Aaron and Jed). Aaron walked in and sat next to me, Jed sat opposite, and in one fell swoop this became "the" table (no offense to all the other guys).

I picked up the menu to see what the choices were. Well, surprise surprise. There were no choices -- this was a prix fixe menu, with the items already selected for us. It was a special menu, printed just for us, with "Windows Vista" on one side and the 7 courses on the other. Huh? Wha? Yes, you heard me right. 7 courses. Suddenly I was glad I had eaten one cookie all day. And so the meal began.

It's hard to describe a 7-course meal in one of the finest restaurants in perhaps the finest resort in a city with the most amazing casino hotels in America. I became the meal's official photographer, taking a picture of each course as it was set down before us. This is what "dining" is all about. Slow, leisurely paced, eating and drinking and conversation lasting several hours. People don't do much of this anymore.

And then the war stories began. Aaron and Jed and the few of us who have been around for a few years began telling tales of our experiences. It became a game of one-upmanship, each trying to top the other. Jed was the referee. The young'uns at the table, Robert McLaws of Longhorn Blogs and Steve Sinchak of TweakVista and TweakXP, pretty much stayed out of it. They just didn't have all that much to contribute in their few years on Earth. But us oldheads droned on for hours. How we kept it going I'll never know. It was a perfect ending to an amazing week.

After our 2 desserts -- or was it 3? I don't remember. It was time to turn in for the night (or turn over some cards). My belly was finally full. Boy, was I glad I only had one cookie all day. I slept like a baby.

Epilogue

There was one scare on the trip back. Knowing how long it might take to go from the hotel to the airport, check-in, etc., I gave myself plenty of time. As it turned out, I actually arrived so early that there was a flight to Philadelphia just about to leave. I couldn't get on it, though. My flight was 3 hours later. When I arrived home, I stood at the baggage carousel for over an hour as everyone's bags came out. Mine didn't. I thought, "oh great, after this amazing experience, my bags were stolen." I went to the office to file a report and there out of the corner of my eye I saw my bags. They had arrived 3 hours earlier. They had been put on the earlier flight by mistake. And so ended the odyssey that was our trip to CES 2006.

From WinHEC and the x64 Launch, to the WWPC, the Longhorn Lab, and now CES, our hosts from Microsoft have been welcoming and gracious and professional. Many thanks to Aaron Coldiron and Jed Rose, as well as all the other Community Staff and MS Product Managers, and our other Featured Communities' colleagues. There will be another event very soon (shhhhh) and I can't wait for the chance to tell you all about it. Stay tuned!

Please post questions or comments in THIS THREAD.

UPDATE
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Earlier, I posted about the big VIP party/concert/event that I attended at Club Pure at Caesar's Palace. That was the one sponsored by MS and MTV. The Killers played and then I went with Aaron and Jed to see The Pussycat Dolls on the other side of the club. I wrote about it HERE.

That was the event which produced those pics of me and the go-go dancers HERE.

It was also the event for which I did not have pics of the real go-go dancers in The Pussycat Dolls performance. I had mentioned that those pics were posted at The Hive but by the time I went to post the link they had been pulled down.

Well, I got an email from the company which was hired to produce the event (Neverstop Inc.). They have put together a website/presentation which showcases the technology they used at the event, shows you some of the setting, and the event itself. This way everyone can get a taste of what the event was like. There are also pics of The Pussycat Dolls in the presentation.

Check it out!

Neverstop Pure Party