Denuology: The Observation and Observations of Denuo. » jdurbin

CES 2012: The Return of Practical Tech

jdurbin — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 23:33:56 +0000

Last year was my first trip to CES and frankly, I was disappointed. Everything had to do with 3D. 3D TV’s, 3D video games, 3D without glasses, 3D energy conservation appliances. I found this development disappointing and surprising for three reasons.

This year was a different story. I was amazed at the amount of practical technology that was being presented. Sure, there were still massive 3D displays (LG) but it felt more like a showroom floor where the theme is “we’ll make life better” as opposed to “isn’t this neat?”

"Cut the Rope" as arcade game. File under "Neat!"

Of course there was some opportunity to fall into each category. For example, TCL developed Dual Screen Television Technology. From one TV screen people can watch two different shows by wearing different glasses. Anyone who is married or shares a studio apartment (ew, seriously, find your own place) knows how useful this is. Now my wife can watch “Bridget Jones’s Diary” while I watch “Bridget Jones’s Diary 2: The Edge of Reason” from the same TV! (high five)

Casio demonstrated a watch that can sync with your smartphone. Someone calls you in a meeting and you can look at your watch to see who it is. Then awkwardly answer your phone. This is just one of many examples of device syncing that occurred all over the showroom floor but was definitely the most unique. Tapping into the cloud to sync was one of the bigger themes of CES 2012 whether that be syncing computing devices to save information or appliances to save energy. Tablets got a boost as they can now wirelessly connect to your TV. This is a big win for anyone who rents a movie through iTunes or just wants to experience a bigger display whilst playing Plants vs Zombies.

Despite the downplay on 3D, TV was still king of the show. This year just about every TV booth had a motion control TV. Which is great because now I don’t have to burn precious calories wandering my apartment looking for my remote. Technicolor displayed a panoramic TV technology that allows you to control the camera as you watch live sporting events. This was far more interesting than ESPN’s massive display pimping ESPN3D. Don’t get me wrong, ESPN staged a live boxing match and broadcast SportsNation from the show floor, which was super cool. But all of it was there to promote ESPN3D. Being able to point the camera wherever I want is far more appealing than feeling like Trent Richardson is coming right at me. The push of ESPN3D was interesting considering that a few months ago AT&T dropped it from it’s Uverse package. ESPN might be feeling the heat to recoup some of it’s high investment in the channel. My advice to ESPN? Ditch 3D as a separate channel and figure out a way to broadcast individual events in 3D on ESPN. Kinda like the way SAP or closed captioning works. Admission: I don’t know how SAP or closed captioning works.

Dish TV’s “Hopper” is a new set top box that has 2 terabytes of storage. This means you can record six HD shows while simultaneously recording four more HD shows. That sounds incredible. But as I walked by paper thin HD TV’s with unbelievable pictures, developing a box seems like a strange effort. I didn’t see any of the other major cable companies there, but they needed to be. They hold the keys to TV development now. Super thin TV’s are always going to look worse with a lot of wires sticking out or a box on a shelf nearby. AT&T has a new box that is wireless, which is a step in the right direction. But the first cable company who figures out how to stream their programming and push it onto the cloud is going to have the inside track in the cable race.

If you squint you can see a TV

This goes for video game console developers too. An XBox adds cables and wires and “stuff” next to a TV which hurts the overall aesthetics of the room. I don’t know the stats on it, but I am guessing a lot of gamers (15%?) are also renters and not in a position to drill a massive hole in their wall to install a wall mount. Of course of that 15% probably .03% are concerned with room aesthetics.

That’s not the only issue for game developers. I took some time to play EA’s Dead Space on the Samsung Galaxy Tablet. The Tablet was great. The game looked absolutely beautiful and was very responsive as I navigated through a spaceship with people impatiently looking over my shoulder. I did have some major issues, however, in trying to work the controls. It required swipes and taps and holding thumbs down in position. Overall, it was a very klunky gameplay experience. We’re very conditioned to use controllers and for deeper mobile gaming experiences, this is going to be critical. Companies are working on it, but it’s not here yet. In fact, given how prominent mobile and mobile accessories were this year, don’t be surprised to see some major tech players have some solutions to this at CES 2013 (assuming the Mayans were wrong). But until then, casual games or games designed specifically for tabs will dominate the marketplace.

There was no bigger sign (literally) as to the importance of mobile than Samsung’s promotion of it’s Galaxy Note.

The aforementioned sign. And yes, I will interrupt paragraph flow for a bad pun.

The Galaxy Note is a pocket sized tablet (bigger than a phone). It comes with a pen and is being positioned as taking on the role of a notebook you always take with you. To promote it, Samsung hired artists to draw caricatures of CES attendees on the Galaxy Note. Sounds kinda dorky, and I judged it pretty hard when I first saw, but it was pretty awesome. You could even get your caricature on a t-shirt. Which you should give to someone as a gift. There were several TV’s and mobile devices like the Galaxy note that came with pens for writing. Not unlike the Newton from the 90’s. Here’s the problem. If you have horrible handwriting (as I apparently do) it is a frustrating and pointless endeavor to try to take advantage of the writing capability on these devices. The thing that makes it all the more frustrating, especially the TV’s that could be “written” on, is that they make a lot of sense. They are very neat from a tech standpoint but also fill a void in our daily lives. Which is exactly what the tech industry needs to be doing and why this CES left me so optimistic for the future.

Caricatures on the Samsung Galaxy Note

A tip for anyone planning to go to CES next year: Go later in the day and later in the week. I was there Tuesday around lunchtime and it was a nightmare. It was so crowded that I not only gave up on trying to avoid running into people, I intentionally began running into people. But Thursday afternoon from about 3-6pm (the floor closes at 6) it was about as empty as you could expect it to be. I was able to move quickly around the floor and play with a lot of the devices that previously had lines 10 people deep. It was fantastic.

And with that practical advice, let’s open the floor. Anything not listed here you thought was especially nifty? Do you like 3D and I am just a curmudgeon? What do you predict will be the next big things based on what you saw? Did I run into you (sorry if I did)? Leave thoughts in the comments.

*Top Banner includes: Sony laptop that folds into a tablet, Art using headphones and paint by Jody Chestnut, Ford car that had doors that opened neat

2011 Lollapalooza Recap

jdurbin — Tue, 09 Aug 2011 00:09:52 +0000

“Every year since 2005, Lollapalooza (a three day music festival) has taken place in Grant Park here in Chicago (Denuo’s base of operations). Every year since 2005, I’ve gone to Grant Park to listen to bands, eat rib sandwiches, and spend more time outside than anyone with Irish ancestry should. Every year since 2005, I’ve written a recap of the bands I saw and the overall experience. The first couple years I would just e-mail the reviews and anecdotes of 20 hours worth of music to some friends, none of which are music fans. Last year, on an old blog, I took my reviews public.”

That’s the intro I wrote for my Lollapalooza 2009 recap. It’s as true today as it was back then. What happened to my 2010 recap? I missed Lolla to go get married. Priorities.

Does that mean I spent my 1 year anniversary at a music festival? You know it! (puts up hand for high five)

Join me now as I take a timeout from writing about sports to write about another one of my loves; music (and rib sandwiches).

Dan Buczaczer used a great series of lists to recap Coachella. Rather than steal that, I am gonna stick with my school inspired grading system. Check it:
A – Awesome. I want to see them again. I want to buy their merch. I want to buy their albums. I’ll get weirdly serious when I discuss them.
B – They were good or better than expected. If a friend asks me if I want to go see their show, I’ll probably tag along. There’s also a really good chance that 6 months from now I will forget that I had seen them live.
C- M’eh.
D – Ugh. They sucked or were a disappointment. I shake my head in disgust when they are mentioned.
F – There’s a chance I would start a twitter account or website trying to get them fired. Ya know, if they were a football coach.

Unlike school I don’t just hand out A’s and B’s to everyone so they feel special. You’ve got to earn your grade. Also worth noting that I am writing about the entire experience of seeing the band so this is just as much a critique of Lollapalooza as it is the individual bands. Sorry, bands, just how I roll. In fact, to kick this thing off…

Entering the Festival 2:30pm (F)

Apparently about the same time we were walking towards the fest Metra train pulled into the station carrying 700 high school kids who were some combination of drunk/rude/badly dressed. After having this thought I immediately lamented the fact that I was now officially old. If not in body, then in spirit. The new entrance method that involved people getting into lanes led to a massive bottleneck of the crowd. It wasn’t even 3pm and I already had a sweaty dude pressed against me.

The amount of time it took us to get in cost us seeing Grace Potter and the Nocturnals. Strike 1, Lolla.

Friday August 5, 2011

Foster the People 3pm (C+)

This is who all the high school kids were here to see. They’re best known for their jam “Pumped Up Kicks” which has brought me nothing but joy. Unfortunately, their set didn’t live up to the hype. They worked hard on stage which earned them the “+” in their grade, but that’s about all they had going for them. The sound system did them no favors as it was hard to hear a lot of their music and different instruments seemed to be at different levels. All in all, a huge letdown.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Foster the People sez: “Dude. We worked hard in the midday heat. Look at how sweaty that shirt is. And all you can give us is a C+? It’s not our fault the audio guys fell asleep at the wheel.”

Kids These Days 4:15pm (B-)

This is an interesting group. They just graduated high school (these were the only high school kids I liked at the fest) and play a mix of rap and jazz. Their first song was great and I was sold, but then as they went on it got more rap and less singing. It’s not that I don’t like rap, it’s that the male and female vocalists in the group had unbelievably mature and unique voices. I just felt they were underutilized. Keep an eye on these guys, I think with the right producer they could be great.

I’d advise just listening to this video as watching the shaky camera work could lead to barfing/seizures and I don’t want that on my conscience.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Kids These Days sez: “We would appreciate it if you didn’t lump us in with those knuckleheads that were running around the festival.”

Estancia Wine Tent 5pm (A-)

Not a band, but rather a wonderful place with chairs and shade that provided a nice little break before gearing up for the rest of the day. Like I said, I’m old now.

Bright Eyes 6:30pm (A+)

I always have a little trepidation when going to see a band like Bright Eyes. My fear is their more mellow music or off kilter vibe won’t translate in such a large venue. A couple songs in and I knew Bright Eyes would be fine. Conor Oberst was in top form. The band sounded excellent and the set list was great; mixing in slower jams (”Landlocked Blues”, one of my faves) with his more up tempo work.

This was a great time slot for Bright Eyes. Folks are looking for something upbeat enough they can dance a bit but not so upbeat that they get all worn out for the headliners. This guy is a pro and you could see it. A great performance by a very talented musician.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Bright Eyes sez: “Thanks for the nice words. And be sure to tell people that you linked to ‘Landlocked Blues’ because it was the best video you could find from my set and we played a lot of faster songs.”

OK GO 7:15pm (B+)

I missed the first part of their set since I was at Bright Eyes, so take that for what it’s worth. This grade has more to do with expectations than performance. With all their fun music videos, I expected something crazy to happen. All they did visually was wear suits that were different bright colors. Shrug. But no problem, I danced like a maniac and made it fun. No doubt I freaked out some people around me. Good set by a band who is genuinely creative.

Click here to view the embedded video.

OK GO sez: “We’re kinda shocked nobody videotaped you dancing and put it on Youtube to make fun of you. Not that we didn’t enjoy it. We’re just surprised.”

Coldplay 8:15pm (A)

I, for no good reason, am surprised how good Coldplay was. They did a great job of mixing in old songs like “Yellow” and newer ones to really balance out the show. I loved Parachutes and Rush of Blood to the Head but have been lukewarm on their albums since. At no point did I feel bored or unhappy with the songs they were playing. They also had lasers and I might just be simple minded enough to like anything that involves lasers.

They did a nice subtle Amy Whinehouse tribute.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Really surprised Lollapalooza cut that tribute off the video they put on their Youtube Channel. But hey, they have a Youtube channel, so I’m not gonna complain.

Coldplay sez: “In your face for doubting our festival skills. It also helps when 90% of your audience knows 100% of your songs.”

Muse 8:30pm (B)

This is the least fair grade I will give out. As I am sure you noticed, I left Coldplay early to catch a little Muse on the way out the door. I saw Muse at the United Center a year or two ago and they were phenomenal. One of the best shows I’ve ever seen. They had multi-layered stages with lights and video and movement. I expected something similar. There’s no doubting Muse’s ability as musicians. But they were coming around to being must-see spectacle. I was let down when I got there and they didn’t have much in the way of complex stage or video screens. The problem here is that Daft Punk set an unreasonably high bar for performers like this.

The band sounded incredible. They always do. If you’ve never seen Muse you might have given them an A; which I would not argue with. Knowing what they’re capable of, I think I just expected too much.

I should admit, that seeing this video, I think I was just too far back to appreciate what was going on on the screens behind them.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Muse sez: “I know this is a work blog and everything… but are you sure your ‘mental state’ didn’t influence your opinion of the show? It just didn’t seem like you were real… focused.”

Saturday August 6, 2011

J Roddy Walston and the Business 12pm (B-)

Good band. Lots of energy. Just not my type of music. They reminded me a bit of the band Jet. Just much much better. I don’t know that I would recommend buying an album or going to see them, but if you’re somewhere they’re playing anyway, go check them out.

Click here to view the embedded video.

J Roddy Walston and the Business sez: “For a complete list of our shows, check out http://www.myspace.com/jroddy/shows.”

Walk the Moon 12:45pm (B+)

I really enjoyed these guys. They had a ton of energy, played really catchy tunes, jumped around despite the heat and at one point their frontman said “Make some noise if you’re high as balls and don’t care” (for the record, I was not in this demo so made no noise). I always appreciate banter at festivals with the audience and they were surprisingly good at it. It was also endearing that they called out all their fans from Ohio who came to the show. Being from Ohio, they scored bonus points with me.

So why the B+? Because this is one of those bands 6 months from now I will probably forget I saw live.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Walk the Moon sez: “Thanks for the nice words. We need to get some original jams recorded at festivals so you don’t have to link to one of our covers.”

Phantogram 1:30pm (B+)

Really good, mellow hypnotic music. They seemed a little out of place at a festival, but they played well and sounded really good. I would advise finding them in a smaller more intimate venue to check them out. Much like Walk the Moon, I will probably have no memory of seeing them 6 months from now. Which, I should clarify, is in no way an insult to the band.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Phantogram sez: “The rain during our set really helped our vibe in the show.”

Fitz and the Tantrums 2:30pm (B-)

Just not into their soulful jams. Several of my friends are and they thought they were fantastic. See them if you like their music. I gave them a low B because I do appreciate their talent and ability to perform an entertaining show.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Fitz and the Tantrums sez: “‘See them if you like their music’? That’s your review? Is a 10 year old ghost writing for you?”

Local Natives 5:30pm (C)

I was VERY disappointed with this band. I like their music just fine, but really couldn’t get in to their live show. I could be misremembering, but it seemed like they just stood and played. I hate to admit this, but I got so bored I ended up just walking around for about 20 minutes of their set. I probably wouldn’t rate them so low, but I feel like I missed out on some fun shows to try to see these guys. To their credit, they finished very strong, but most of their show I found a little dull.

Full disclosure: Seeing the videos of them on Youtube and reading the comments from people, I am suspicious that my opinion of them was directly resulting from being at the fest for 5 hours already at that point and being tired. Since that may be the case, here are three videos of their performance so you can decide for yourself.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Local Natives sez: “But… we have facial hair. You love facial hair.”

Cee Lo 6:30pm (D-)

I never would have guessed Cee Lo would have the worst set of the entire festival. In fact, quite the opposite, I assumed he was a guaranteed A. I love Cee Lo and his hijinx and I loved Gnarls Barkley when they played at Lolla a couple years ago. This was just a trainwreck of a show. First, the good. He had a cool outfit. It made me chortle. It also made me think I’d be seeing an entertaining show. Nope.

The biggest issue was the audio. I was back from the stage, not far from speakers and could barely hear him. The huge failure was that I couldn’t hear Cee Lo. He has an awesome voice. It’s the only thing I need to hear.

There were several moments when it seemed like they started playing then stopped. It made the show feel really disjointed.

The set itself was odd. He covered a lot of songs including “Teen Spirit.” But he didn’t cover the whole thing. Again, I could barely hear, and once I realized he was covering the Nirvana classic, they stopped or switched to another cover (I honestly couldn’t tell you because the acoustics were so bad). He just kept jumping from song to song with no semblance of a set list or organization.

At first I thought it was just me. But a friend of mine who is a huge Cee Lo fan and was much closer to the stage said the same thing about his set. The main complaint she had was that he only played two of his songs. That’s a problem, Cee Lo. We want to hear your jams. And an occasional cover. And your banter which I always find funny.

Not sure if the heat or the technical issues got the better of him, but this was capping a pretty disappointing afternoon of bands.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Cee Lo sez: “Keep an eye out for me on Season 2 of ‘The Voice’ on NBC!”

My Morning Jacket 8pm (C-)

My Morning Jacket falls into the same boat as Wilco for me. I know a ton of people who love them, but for the life of me, I just can’t get into them. I don’t know why. Not sure what they or I need to do differently, but something needs to change. They sounded fine. In fact, since they sounded fine, I bumped them from a D+ to C-. Sorry My Morning Jacket.

Click here to view the embedded video.

My Morning Jacket sez: “What? You don’t like us? I’m sorry, can you repeat that?… You need to speak up, I can’t hear you on top of this pile of money and adoring fans.”

Eminem 8:30pm (B+)

Really good show from Eminem. He sounded really good and played with a ton of energy. My one complaint was the video board behind him that played some really weird things. At one point it was skulls. Or when they had a CGI airplane flying during… “Airplanes.” Maybe Muse had it right after all.

The real reason he’s getting this grade is because there was no shortage of special guests. Bruno Mars was there for a song as was Skylar Grey. The reason I appreciated this is because all day there were rumors about all the special guests (including Dre) that would be showing up. I, of course, was quick to point out that he was in Kansas City the night before so unless everyone is riding around in a bus with him, I highly doubt anyone would be there.

Oops.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Eminem sez: “Course I’m gonna have special guests. What am I, Kanye?”

Beirut 8:45pm (A-)

This is where fest schedulers absolutely killed me. I love Beirut but he was up against Eminem who I had never seen before (I saw Beirut at Pitchfork 2 years ago). On the way out, I stopped by the stage for his last couple songs. Zach Condon sounded great. The band was really good. I got to hear a couple of my fave songs of his. See him live or buy his music and you will be in for a treat.

Added bonus while we’re here, was the Google+ stage. Much like the BMI stage on the other side of the fest, these are the best spots to see shows. It actually feels like the 2005 Lollapalooza where you could get close to the bands to enjoy their shows and still have enough room to dance or at least not be elbow to elbow with someone who had spent all day drinking in the sun.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Beirut sez: “I understand you had some tough choices to make. You made the wrong one, but I recognize they exist.”

Sunday August 7, 2011

I learned a very valuable lesson from Day 2. Don’t show up early unless I expect to leave early. And since the only bands I wanted to see were Explosions in the Sky and Foo Fighters, we took our time getting there.

Lissie 4:30pm (B+)

Really enjoyed her set. I would probably never buy her album, but she had good stage presence, a good backing band, and was better than I expected her to be. She probably would have gotten a B- but she closed her set with a cover of Kid Cudi’s “Pursuit of Happiness” which was absolutely fantastic.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Lissie sez: “I also did a Tequila shot on stage.”

The Underage Guy Trying to Buy a Beer (F) / The Woman Who Wouldn’t Serve Him (A+)

After Lissie I swung by a beer tent.
Me: “I’ll take one of those tall Bud Lights.”
17 Year Old Looking Guy: “Ya know what, I’ll have one too.”
Awesome Woman Working Tent (to 17YOLG): “Do you have an ID?”
17YOG (pointing to wrist): “Oh, I have one of the age bracelets.” Quick note: that bracelet looked like it had seen better days.
AWWT: “Ya, I know. But do you have your ID on you, honey?”
17YOG: “I…um, I, I didn’t bring it today.”
AWWT: “Then I can’t serve you. Sorry.”
17YOG: “OK” and walks away.

AWWT and I proceeded to joke about this guy and the many people like him who tried to purchase booze whilst underage. There’s really nothing quite as incriminating as saying “I didn’t bring my ID today.” He might as well have just said “I am not 21 and you have bested my ruse. I’ll try another tent with younger looking people working it. Good day, Madam.”

Boy and Bear 5pm (B+)

This might be the band I have the least amount to say about. I really enjoyed the 3-4 songs I heard them play. The end.

I couldn’t even find video of them at Lollapalooza.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Boy and Bear sez: “We have nothing to add, mate. Oy!” (They’re Australian. That’s how I imagine Aussies talk. Ya know, other than the ones I actually know.)

The Rain 6pm (F)

Ugh. It was Lolla 2009 all over again. The rain drops were heavy and torrential. I tried taking cover under trees but that didn’t really help. I kept having flashbacks to 2009 when I got bombarded by rain and my phone died. It was miserable. But it eventually let up.

Walk the Moon grade change: (A-)

The knock on them was that I wouldn’t remember seeing them live. But after getting drenched I went to the Lolla store and bought one of their T-shirts so I would be dry for the rest of the day (or so I thought). Looks like I will remember seeing them after all.

Artic Monkeys 6pm (B+)

I caught the last couple songs of their set and they were great. They really leave it all on stage and play to get the crowd worked up into a frenzy. The only reason they didn’t hit A level status is that I am not a fan of their albums. What that translates to is that I won’t be seeking them out to see them live but if invited I will go.

They played during the rain (despite their start being delayed) which usually gets a crowd worked up. Excellent job by Arctic Monkeys.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Arctic Monkeys: “C’mon. Just like us already. We’re tired of this.”

Foo Fighters 8pm (A+)

Something funny happens at festivals. I see all these bands playing a large venue and I think “they’re good, had a good stage presence.” Then the headliners start and all of a sudden every band you thought was good on stage before looks like a total amateur by comparison. And you realize why they’re so popular. The connection that Dave Grohl is able to establish with an audience in the hundreds of thousands is remarkable. It feels like your own personal show that you’re enjoying with a massive crowd of other people. Their set was helped by the fact that a driving rainstorm washed over the crowd while they played “My Hero.” Much like Coldplay, there was a great balance of old stuff and new stuff. The banter with the crowd was great, especially when talking about the thunderstorm that drenched everyone and everything. It made you feel like they were at the festival with you, as equals.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Foo Fighters sez: “Thanks. We had a great time playing the show. You should come see us again sometime.”

Overall Lollapalooza Expeience

Set Up (B+)

The new layout helped in that it cleared the area that connects the stages to make it easier to get from north to south side of the festival. Some areas did bottle neck a little but nothing major. These really happened around the food tents close to dinner time.

The issue I had was the the restrooms were essentially all in one place. That means if you were on the east side of a crowded show and you had to go, you were out of luck. Or, like many others, you just went over to the fences. Since I don’t feel like giving it its own section, the Restroom situation gets an F. Not sure how often or if they ever were cleaned up during the fest, but they were disgusting… midway through day 2. And they only got worse. I think part of the reason people stopped using them is because they were just kinda repulsive to go into.

Security (D+)

This year a lot of folks jumped fences to get in. 270,000 paid + hundreds more in fence jumping, made the fest feel extremely crowded. The new additional space helped a bit, but not enough. Unfortunately, all these extra people were a strain on an already spread too thin infrastructure. I really don’t care that people got in free when I paid but I do care that there was no attendance cushion and all these people made the festival more crowded, lines longer, and bathroom facilities go to hell quicker.

Click here to view the embedded video.

If the gate rushers weren’t such a problem, then I would have no complaints about security. They kept the lines moving and just looked for major violations to the “what you can bring in policy.” Meaning that as long as you weren’t blatantly carrying in a bottle of booze or a weapon, they pretty much left you alone.

Bands (A)

A lot of good bands and a great mix between major acts (Coldplay, Eminem, Foo Fighters) and smaller/more indie acts (Walk the Moon, Beirut, Boy and Bear).

Scheduling (C-)

There were a lot of conflicts between bands I wanted to see. I think they scheduled the way they did to prevent too many people from gathering in one place so they made people choose between Foo Fighters or Cold War Kids and other such conflicts. I should be just as excited about the show when the schedule comes out as I am when the lineup is announced. I can’t say that about this year’s show.

Technical Things (D+)

There were too many bands that I saw that I thought “wow, they don’t sound good at all.” Then I noticed they all seem to be playing the same stages. That’s a bad sign. Toss in how disappointing the visual effects and stage craziness were during the whole festival and I just don’t think we’ll see some of the spectacles we’ve seen in the past. Sad panda.

Overall Grade (B-)

Yeah. I know. Boring. I appreciate how difficult it is for the organizers to put together such a massive show, book acts, make sure there is enough food and water, and deal with the weather. For all that stuff they get an A. This year, unlike in years past, it seemed like some of the minor details went by the wayside in the performances and some of the setup. As the festival has gotten bigger and bigger more of these subtleties have been lost. It’s less about the music and the show and more about just being able to say you were there, regardless of top to bottom quality. Of course, despite all this, I will probably go next year, just to say I went again.

Thanks to everyone who put their videos on Youtube. It makes my life a lot easier. And if it wasn’t obvious, all those quotes the bands said were made up by me.

MLB Hits a Home Run with Twitter (Get it!?!?!)

jdurbin — Mon, 11 Jul 2011 20:18:36 +0000

Twitter and pro sports have had a tumultuous love affair. On one hand, leagues have benefitted from players and fans connecting directly. On the other hand, Larry Johnson.

At one point in 2009, it looked like Twitter and professional sports would never get along. Teams and media properties were heavily regulating content of tweets or banning it altogether.

Thankfully, we’re to a point now where enough people in decision-making positions understand how Twitter works. Teams are able to give players social media training. They have gone from blanket banning to friendly warning if a player gets a little liberal with their tweets. The change has been great for fans as we can get news and insider views like no other generation of sports fan before us.

Tonight will hopefully be the next step in the evolution of how we view sports.

Major League Baseball has empowered players at tonight’s Home Run Derby to tweet their brains out during the event (but just this event). They will aggregate the content on MLB.com as well as other social channels or you can follow your favorite player who will be tweeting.

While the idea of players tweeting could never work during games (due to media commitments and you shouldn’t tweet during your homerun trot, amongst other things), it raises a question: Why not have someone doing this for every team for every game?

Players can’t do it, but a team employee can. Someone integrated with the team, on the bench, in the dugout, on the sideline with enough savvy to know what to tweet and what not to tweet that he/she overhears or sees. And honestly, if a player is injured or not playing that night, what reason is there not to let them tweet?

Twitter offers an opportunity that television and radio can’t replicate by allowing a series of Twitter handles that can each have a unique voice. A TV broadcast has to appeal to as many people as possible. Therefore, oftentimes you won’t get real in-depth analysis and only hear what teams are willing to tell a sideline reporter.

With Twitter, a team could create accounts that provide that instant analysis that TV executives think would alienate the casual fan (side note: I disagree with this philosophy. Your audience will be as smart as you empower them to be). They could explain why a pitcher is laying off his cutter that particular day. Or why the two tight end set is killing a defense. Or why a team that tends to rely on the three pointer is suddenly driving to the hoop.

It seems like a natural progression of where analysis and sports coverage is heading. Sportswriters and fans are starting to provide analysis during games. Better for teams to get in front of the trend and potentially create a property they can monetize along with their broadcast streams.

Watching the games is why we follow the athletes or executives. It’s like the opening credits to a movie. Following them tells us who or what we expect to see. But without the film (or game), then we just looked at a bunch of words. Yet the crux of their business, the games, is the one place that is going untouched. Here’s hoping that soon after tonight’s Tater Contest, that stops being the case.

Putting the N-E-R-D back in Sports

jdurbin — Thu, 03 Mar 2011 18:57:05 +0000

As the coolest guy at Denuo, I have some shocking news that will likely upset you. I have a super huge nerdy side. I know. You thought I was different. You thought I would never get locked in a debate between who is better, Thor or Longshot. Don’t worry, that’s still true. But the nerd side does exist. And he exists for sports analytics. While I won’t debate blonde dudes in comic books, I will get into a debate about whether Adam Dunn was more valuable to the Nationals than Derek Jeter was to the Yankees in 2010 (Hint: Dunn’s WAR was 1.4 points higher than Jeter’s).

And with that, I shall be releasing Nerd Durbin (Nerbin for short) at the Sloan Sports Analytics conference this weekend in Boston. It’s a great event put on the by the MIT Sloan School of Management. It’s not just for people who love sports analytics, but also want an inside view into the world of sports business.

I will be on the Twitters, tweetering during the conference (@jdurbin and #ssac). If you want to follow along, they will be streaming the panels here. For the agenda click here.

Don’t know what panels to check out? Well lucky you. Here are my recommendations (note that I did not list everything):

“Birth to Stardom: Developing the Modern Athlete in 10,000 hours?”

Why it will be interesting: The opening panel. Usually a good way to start the day. There’s a lot of debate about putting kids into too many activities and over committing to one sport too early. Will be interesting to hear the different takes.

Added Bonus: When else will you be able to see Justin Tuck and Malcolm Gladwell have a conversation?

“The Coming War: Sports Labor Relations”

Why it will be interesting: Mostly relevance. The current NFL CBA expires at Midnight tonight. The NBA’s expires this summer. The thing I will enjoy is the complexity of these things. While the owners seem to have all leverage in the NFL negotiations, the players could disband the union and sue the NFL under anti-trust law like they did in 1993. More tidbits like that will make my brain happy.

Added Bonus: The palpable awkwardness for the rest of the conference when someone says something inappropriate about the owners.

“Sports Gambling: The Source of Sports Innovation?”

Why it will be interesting: I love betting on sports. But aside from that, it will be interesting to see how this panel meshes with the rest of the conference. Leagues are openly and vehemently anti-gambling so it will be interesting to see how much credit the industry is given for fan interest.

Added Bonus: You might get a hot gambling tip.

“The Decision: How Players and Teams Will Choose in the Future”

Why it will be interesting: Was Lebron a one time thing? Is it something we will become immune to? Will be good to hear from the industry folks on what their fears might be.

Added Bonus: Brian Burke is a part of this panel. He’s awesome and by far my favorite sports executive. If you had any doubt about my sports nerdery, I think the fact I have a favorite executive should put those questions to rest.

“Basketball Analytics”

Why it will be interesting: Basketball seems to be where baseball analytics were about 15 years ago. A lot of new and interesting ways to measure performance are being figured out. As with baseball there should be a few good head slap moments that make you say “of course! It’s so obvious!”

Added Bonus: You might get some hot tips for your NCAA bracket (but probably not).

“Referee Analytics”

Why it will be interesting: The topic is fascinating. There only recently seems to be a mainstream acceptance of Referees as inputs when evaluating performance of a team or a player. Mark Cuban talking about refs? Yes. And. Please.

Added Bonus: My favorite NFL referee is on the panel. Yup, even have a favorite NFL ref.

“Gut vs Data: How Coaches Make Decisions”

Why it will be interesting: The coaching panel last year was incredibly insightful. You learn so much and gain an appreciation for how much goes into coaching. Two members of last year’s panel (Avery Johnson and Buck Showalter) were hired and are back to coaching this year. It’s cool to get that kind of candid exposure to how they think and view things.

Added Bonus: Mike Leach is on the panel. Charlie Sheen is the only person on the planet better at making awesome quotes.

“New Owners: Challenges and Opportunities”

Why it will be interesting: You can learn an insane amount from talking to someone who has owned a business (assuming you never have). Put that business in one of the most visible and highly criticized industries, and you get an even more fertile ground for learning.

Added Bonus: Figuring out which owner clearly has no idea what he is doing based on how confused he is by the conversation. There might not be one. But more importantly, there might be.

“Business of Sports”

Why it will be interesting: I just find the business of sports interesting. Sunil Gulati and Darren Rovell (great Twitter account @darrenrovell) should have some great insight.

Added Bonus: You might get a hot tip on what franchise is failing.

“The Future of the Game Day Experience: HDTV vs Live Events”

Why it will be interesting: In my mind there is no bigger issue in sports. Ticket prices go up while at home viewing options increase. Owners need to balance the cost of running a team with at what point they price out fans. I am really interested to hear what plans there are to address this need because I would like to go to games but can’t justify the expense more than once or twice a year.

Added Bonus: This is a reverse bonus. This will be the last panel of the conference, and I’ll have to put Nerbin back in his cage. Frown.

Well, until my fantasy baseball draft that is.

The People Behind the Screen

jdurbin — Tue, 15 Feb 2011 19:59:23 +0000

It started with a phone call to our offices in Chicago.

The next step involved several meetings in New York and Montvale, New Jersey.

From there, it sent me to Tampa for a team training session and send off party.

And finally Tampa to Dallas, culminating in 4 cars, 4 starting points, and 3 days of cross country travel.

The denouement happened last week at the Chicago Auto Show where I stood, still exhausted from the journey, and answered questions during their inaugural Social Media Day.

One of the questions that continually came up is “How did you get people so engaged in this?”

My travels were half the answer. Ultimately it was a digital experience that was rooted in humanity and the physical world.

If you’re not familiar with the Mercedes-Benz Tweet Race, I apologize for the vague intro. I still like to pretend I write for Rolling Stone from time to time. Eric Bee sums it up here.

The consumer facing side was this.

A straightforward web/mobile experience that allowed you to track the race from your snowed in living room or your office while on mute during a boring conference call (hypothetically).

But it was more than that. These were actual people driving from point to point. They passed through our neighborhoods, they posted videos from familiar locales, they tweeted out things that we all experience on a road trip. There were moments of joy, there were moments of pain. It was 3 days of sharing highs and lows with people you probably never met, but could relate to.

For all the pontification you hear about what makes a digital experience engaging and successful, you rarely hear something as simple as “it catered to our humanity.” We all have needs and desires. Highs and lows. And frankly, we want to experience them. Even if it is through a proxy driving a Mercedes-Benz CL through Tennessee.

When the fate of that proxy falls in your hands, the engagement skyrockets.

There was no better example of this than the Scavenger Hunt Challenge. On the last day, each team received identical sets of clues for 8 items. The catch was that they weren’t expected to find these things, their followers were. Their most ardent supporter might have tweeted 50 times a day, but it doesn’t matter unless they live near or own the object their team was looking for.

A few Google Docs and several hours later and Team E narrowly beat out Team S in the challenge. They had won a “digital” challenge that required a trip to Heinz Field, Lambeau Field, Sun Life Stadium, The Mercedes-Benz Classic Car Center in Irvine, and Mercedes-Benz Dealerships in Tampa, Chicago, LA, Manhattan, and Union, New Jersey.

It wasn’t just a matter of clicking “like” or printing a coupon. It demanded that you go out into the world and connect with someone to achieve a shared goal on behalf of this team you had lived and died with (in a gaming sense) for 2 days. The reward was intrinsic, and the response was staggering.

Watching the feed as the challenge progressed, you could feel the tension around completing the task. No one wanted to lose. It was digital drama created in an analog world. This screenshot from Team E’s Google Doc sums it up best.

There was no prize for the people in the Team E community who finished the challenge. The reward was helping two guys from Chicago get from Tampa to Dallas and complete some challenges along the way. It had nothing to do with pixels. It had everything to do with miles. And as we forage deeper into the digital world, that’s something we should never lose sight of.