Chad and I spent two days in Las Vegas at the Hotel Design Expo (May 14-16, 2008). The convention was housed in the Sands Conference Center and must have included nearly 10,000 exhibiting vendors. Two full floors were devoted to displaying every conceivable item that could possibly be stuffed into a hotel room to improve its design and functionality.
This was our first trip to this conference. I couldn’t believe how many companies manufacture intelligence doorknobs for commercial purposes. Self-locking, personnel-tracking, microbe killing doorknobs were everywhere. (Did you know that they make a doorknob that kills about all of the bacteria and viruses that come off of your hand within 20 seconds? The coating is supposed to last for 20+ years! Jim Pinter or TownSteel was happy to show us how it all worked. With 6 kids, I’m going to install those doorknobs through my whole house.)
There was very little in the way of electronics at the show. A couple of vendors stood out, and I wish I had written their names down to give individual shoutouts. A few phone manufacturers were there. The coolest place we stopped was a virtual reality company that is doing amazing animation to preview cityscapes, design concepts and architectural renderings. The quality of their animations was top notch. (I can’t think of any use of their application in my life, but I’m going to work on it. I want my own virtual reality studio)
Chris’ HD Expo Conference Grades:
We met great people, but unless we’re a vendor there next year, I’m not sure if we’ll get excited enough to see a million shower heads, fabric textures and pillow displays again.
