First jobs of the year were for AT&T and Seagate. The AT&T show was in Dallas at the Hyatt Regency not far from the infamous Dealey Plaza where JFK was assassinated. I’ve stayed at this hotel a number of times and last year took a trip to the Sixth Floor Museum. For those of us who were alive in 1963 and have memories of that day in November, a trip to the museum is guaranteed to bring it all back. Most amazing display are some of the actual film & movie cameras that documented the shooting.

After the show, I flew back to SFO, got in my car and drove down to Santa Cruz for a Seagate employee meeting. Seagate is emblematic of what is going on in these tough economic times. They replaced their CEO and will have layoffs to combat the slow sales of their hard drives. (I did my part to help by buying a 500gb Seagate drive for my edit system). These meetings, produced by The Kenwood Group,  happen 3-4 times a year – it’s great to have a reoccurring show these days! This show is especially enjoyable as Kenwood employees the latest technology to get the information to the Seagate employees around the world. We have a satellite truck to distribute the show and for the first time, recorded in 720p for distribution via the web. Creative Technology provided the HD rig and I directed (and switched) the video record, screen switch and satellite feed. Video juggling!!!

I and many of my colleagues in the industry are interested in seeing how business will develop throughout the year. Normally the corporate production industry is very strong and I have not seen this level of concern since 9/11. This week, I would usually be on my way to the Detroit Auto show but Nissan/Infiniti (who I’ve worked with the last several years) and several other companies in the Auto Industry have cancelled their appearance at the show. As we have learned other major companies have cancelled or planned to cancel future events (most notably Cisco and Apple).

Diversity is important in times like these and we have to call upon our expertise to keep the workflow going. I usually have some editing or producing projects going on to fill the gaps when I’m not directing. If that’s not the case, I’ll work on pro bono projects that I’ve been putting off.

The middle of January I will be off to Dallasto direct the video for AT&T’s annual meeting, fly back and do a Seagate show for the Kenwood Group in Santa Cruz.

Jim