Cinemacon 2021

[Leo Enticknap]

I've been scheduled for the shop on Monday, getting the stuff for our booth ready to ship. So as of now, at any rate, we're still working on the assumption that Cinemacon is a go.

[Steve Guttag]

I just got another confirmation of a customer going that wants me to discuss equipment with them so I'm still going but that top show floor is looking more than just a little sparse. I think, Leo, you all will be the big kids on the block!

That big empty space is where QSC was going to be: Screen Shot 2021-08-07 at 9.47.34 AM.png

I think they should move every one to the front or, realistically, move everyone to the lower level so the show is all on one ballroom (and the Milanos). The bottom floor has the food vendors so everyone could be "eating".

The bottom floor "Julius Ballroom" is pretty well filled up but I suspect that it could accommodate everyone above:

Screen Shot 2021-08-07 at 9.50.51 AM.png

I think putting everyone there would benefit all (and it is on ground level). I see that Pepsi has pulled out (and their related products like ICEE).

Screen Shot 2021-08-07 at 9.55.08 AM.png

With QSC out, the primary speaker/amp vendors are no longer coming (I don't see Samsung/Harman/JBL there but the knock-off company Empar is!). I suppose Dolby's SLS and Christie's Vive speakers and amps qualify some but they don't have the installation base of JBL and QSC. Barco/Cinionic isn't listed but, I'm told, they will have a booth by the registration area...which is and odd place to be, in my opinion.

[Leo Enticknap]

It looks like we will be the big kids on the block - my boss told me this afternoon that unless the entire show is nixed, we're going ahead and will be there. The stuff for our booth ships next Monday.

[Sean McKinnon]

Well our stuff has shipped so I will see you guys there! Glad that MIT isn't cancelling. Steve, don't forget BGW and HPS4000!

[Steve Guttag]

It's my purpose for existing! I don't have a particular problem with either, really. They are not my go-to amps or speakers but to each their own.

[Sean McKinnon]

Well... here we go! Cinemacon 2021 has begun!

[Martin Brooks]

Leo, as I said...once I open the can...I'm drinking until I'm done. I don't nurse it for the whole flight or anything and that is when, if I'm eating anything, I'll do that too. I generally am wearing noise cancelling headphones so whatever prompting the PA is putting out is summarily ignored too.

Whereas the infection rate of vaccinated people remains very low, even with Delta, the numbers don't justify the mandate. It's not political, it's math. Yes, Delta has increased one's likelihood, yes a vaccinated person that is truly infected (not just tests positive...that is a surface test), can transmit the virus as much as an unvaccinated, it still comes back to that they make up something on the order of 0.5% of the people infected (not the entire population). Relatively speaking...it is a VERY small number. I understand and appreciate those people that feel it is too much of a risk for them, after all, your protection is based on a percentage too and if you increase your pool (travel to a "hot zone"), you've increased your chances of being a breakthrough case. However, that doesn't mean everyone has to feel the same. Nothing in life comes with a 100% guarantee. At some point, everyone has their risk/reward plateau. So far, the CDC has not shown any numbers that indicate that vaccinated people are causing any significant spread because there are so few data points with them...being vaccinated and all.

As of yesterday and pertaining to the Delta variant:

https://www.kff.org/coronavirus-covi...data-analysis/

So, Bobby needs to mask up and stay away.. Again, those numbers are for those that have tested positive, not the entire population.

Well I'm going to completely disagree. We've got over 647,000 deaths, the equivalent of 9/11, 215 days in a row. Infection rates are skyrocketing. There's no guarantee that people attending a convention will be vaccinated. Nationally, we're back up to a 7-day rolling average of 148,000 new daily cases, back where we were on February 1st. Nevada has a 7-day rolling daily average of 1160, back where they were on January 29th. People keep talking about the death rate, but even if you don't die, some people are experiencing longer term effects. And we should risk that because people are a bit uncomfortable wearing a mask in a completely air conditioned facility?

[Marcel Birgelen]

This Delta variant is a pretty nasty one. I now know three people that got COVID-19 Delta despite being fully vaccinated (Pfizer/Biontec Comirnati in all cases). None of them ever came close to be needed to be hospitalized, but all three of them were "out" for the better part of a week.

Unless you're wearing N95 masks or better all the time and take great care of using them right, when not all do wear them, they're pretty useless. Masks primarily protect others from you, not the other way around. That's why it's either all or nothing and a "strong recommendation" to wear masks is almost worth nothing.

So, either we get all our collective asses moving and ALL get vaccinated, or this whole shitstorm will happily continue to show it's ugly ass in 2022 and shit all over us again, probably with some new, fresh variants...

Well our stuff has shipped so I will see you guys there! Glad that MIT isn't cancelling. Steve, don't forget BGW and HPS4000!

Say what? The name of the Voldemort 4000 sound system may be spoken again on this forum?

[Steve Guttag]

Well I'm going to completely disagree. We've got over 647,000 deaths, the equivalent of 9/11, 215 days in a row. Infection rates are skyrocketing. There's no guarantee that people attending a convention will be vaccinated. Nationally, we're back up to a 7-day rolling average of 148,000 new daily cases, back where we were on February 1st. Nevada has a 7-day rolling daily average of 1160, back where they were on January 29th. People keep talking about the death rate, but even if you don't die, some people are experiencing longer term effects. And we should risk that because people are a bit uncomfortable wearing a mask in a completely air conditioned facility?

You can disagree if you want but you aren't good with numbers. The 647K deaths are by an overwhelming percentage...not vaccinated. In 2020, everyone was unvaccinated and that is where the 620K came from. The mere 20K in 2021 consist of just about all unvaccinated.

As for the long-term health issues...again, you are talking about the unvaccinated. Even the breakout cases are not experiencing health issues except in an even smaller percentage.

As for the show, you don't even get to the registration area without passing through a vaccination check point where one has to provide proof of vaccination that matches a government issued ID. So, is there 100% positive ID check...no, the vax cards can be faked by basic skills. But now you are getting into another very small percentage. When you are talking about an entire world population, a small percentage remains a high number. When you are talking about a convention the size of CinemaCon 2021, you have a tiny number still. So, by and large, if you are worried about a breakout case causing another breakout case, you are more likely to be in a car accident than have to deal with the virus. Masking, with such small numbers just isn't warranted, in my opinion. Masking was a tool that was best used before vaccination with the degree of effectiveness that we currently have.

[Marcel Birgelen]

So, for those few lucky (?) ones who actually made it to this year's CinemaCon, maybe someone can give us a bit of an impression of what we're all are or aren't missing out on? (Well, except for the constant poking around in your nose for testing... masks... etc...)

[Leo Enticknap]

As for the show, you don't even get to the registration area without passing through a vaccination check point where one has to provide proof of vaccination that matches a government issued ID.

Either that, or a negative test result from a test done at the on-site testing center. I guess that the convention organizers provided this alternative option either because they believe that they would lose a significant number of registrations if they didn't offer an option for anti-vaxxers, or that they didn't want the negative publicity that might result if they made vaccination an absolute requirement.

That having been said, no-one was checking for orange rubber wrist bands as people entered and exited the convention area on Sunday and yesterday. In fact, no-one was checking anything at all: I could have planted a 50lb bomb in our booth if I'd wanted to! Maybe that will change today, when the trade show opens to visitors.

I am with Steve on the overall debate. We manage many other threats to our health and our lives every day, and it is now very clear that vaccination reduces the risk from covid to those of all the others. There is a significant minority who don't want to drive because they don't feel safe doing so (in most cases, because they have specific health issues that increase the risk, e.g. very poor eyesight), and choose to use public transportation instead. By the same token, there are vaccinated people who want to continue wearing masks, and/or avoid large gathering events such as Cinemacon altogether. That's fine, and they should be totally free to do that, and supported to do that wherever possible. But that's not a valid reason to continue to impose unnecessary restrictions and regulations on the rest of us.

So, for those few lucky (?) ones who actually made it to this year's CinemaCon, maybe someone can give us a bit of an impression of what we're all are or aren't missing out on? (Well, except for the constant poking around in your nose for testing... masks... etc...)

No nasal sodomy needed if you've been vaxxed.

Impressions yesterday from glancing at the name badges of people walking around were that the theater chains are here in force, but that the studios and distributors were nowhere to be seen. That may be because there were presentations and seminars specifically for theater managers yesterday, and not much else. The trade show opens this morning, and then we'll get a more realistic sense of what attendance is like.

I tried to upload a couple of photos, but it's not letting me. After uploading and placing them into the message, it said "Please upload at least one photo" when I tried to press the post button. I followed exactly the same procedure as on previous occasions when it let me insert photos, so I think there must be something up at the forum server end.

[Marcel Birgelen]

Dodge-Diplomat-police-car.jpg
Just messing around with the image upload function. Don't ask me why this image turned up in my "Pictures" folder... Maybe your images are too large and the transfer gets aborted? Some modern cameras, even smart phone cameras produce horrendously large pictures, even in JPEG format...

That having been said, no-one was checking for orange rubber wrist bands as people entered and exited the convention area on Sunday and yesterday. In fact, no-one was checking anything at all: I could have planted a 50lb bomb in our booth if I'd wanted to! Maybe that will change today, when the trade show opens to visitors.

Well, sounds like the standard situation for the organization of any big-scale event... I've always said if you want to bomb a big event, just put your bomb in some big flight case and shove it where you want it while the stuff is being built up. Just show up in a big, white no-name truck and you'll be waved through at every checkpoint...

[Steve Guttag]

Really, the orange wrist bands were to get badges. Presumably, only people with badges will be interacting with other people with badges. I have a bigger problem with the mere testing. Okay...you test negative. Great...you go out party in the Vegas night life and then come back the next day with a complete unknown condition all over again.

That said, a large percentage of people are walking the streets masked, outdoors in over 100F heat. The only indoor unmasked I really see are those eating and puffing on their smokes at the slots. You do get the usual chin strappers and nose exposed types. Or my favorite, they pull away their mask for talking...defeating its purpose. Most don't seem to get, the mask is to keep YOUR liquid expulsions from getting to others. N95s, properly worn (and that is key) is to stop it from getting to you. Properly worn means a good seal around the entire mask area...not just sitting on top of things. I've seen a few that have been good with that too.

[Marcel Birgelen]

My problem with most N95 masks I have here is that they fit less snuggly on my face than most cheapo "medical masks". They cover less surface and often fail to align properly. I guess they're generally smaller than the standard "medical masks" because the material is more expensive, so they cut them on a tighter profile to get more masks out of their raw material.

Impressions yesterday from glancing at the name badges of people walking around were that the theater chains are here in force, but that the studios and distributors were nowhere to be seen. That may be because there were presentations and seminars specifically for theater managers yesterday, and not much else. The trade show opens this morning, and then we'll get a more realistic sense of what attendance is like.

Looking at the trade show floor plan, I see about as twice as many square feet devoted to candy and drinks than cinema technology. While I do understand that selling overpriced snacks and sugar water is the prime business model of many cinemas nowadays, it's somehow foreboding there isn't anything major in the pipeline on the technical front...

[Mike Blakesley]

There was technology, it was just mostly featured in suites, not much on the “main” trade show floor. We spent some time in the GDC suite and looked at their new small laser projector which was cool. I would say the main floor was about 40% snacks/drinks, 30% seats, 15% web-related things like websites, ticket apps and such, and the rest was everything else. RTS was a no show, which was disappointing because I had a few things I wanted to talk fo them about, but we came away with lots of good ideas and plans, and a huge desire fo win the lottery to pay for it all.

We got checked for our orange wristband every time we entered an event. Overall though, besides the smaller attendance and a lack of some cool things (like celebrities), it’s felt fairly normal.

To me the masks are pretty pointless because everyone takes them off to eat/drink, but people have been good about wearing them.

I have enjoyed the studio execs who have reiterated the importance of theatrical exhibition to the industry, but of course everything they say could change next week.

One thing hasn’t changed… the sound for the trailers is still blisteringly and unnecessarily loud. I have almost zero memory of any trailers we’ve seen. I have felt like I’ve been run over by a truck after each studio presentation so far.

Sony screened the new Ghostbusters movie which was really, really good. Ivan Reitman and Jason Reitman were there to introduce the movie (and they’re the biggest live celebrities we’ve seen yet). They have redeemed the franchise.

There was an interesting glitch during the State of the Industry segment when an unidentified video clip refused to play. There was about 3 minutes of dead air during which I’ll bet there was plenty of behind the scenes panic going on. They finally moved on and said the video in question would be played later in the week.