Archive for April, 2010

When I spotted Tommy at the front of the parade, with his umbrella, I knew it was a good sign. We were almost ready to get this event moving! The police escort was in place. All the parade marchers were in place. The crowd was in place. It was TIME!

Tommy is in full flight all the time. He is our parade marshal. That requires him to be running from one end of the parade to the other (all the time). He sure loves his work. I have never seen him upset. He is always smiling and taking time with folks.

After a day wandering the exhibition floor and watching the construction, it was great to get outside for the big parade! PES had arranged for a marching band, 2 Mardi Gras floats, a street band, and tons of costumed Mardi Gras marchers. It was beyond words, but is sure was colorful.

Pat Ryan and Tommy Mayne gave me a quick overview of the Expo. They have been living with it since the close of the last Expo in Chicago. They are also planning the 2012 Expo in Orlando. I don’t see how they keep it all straight, but they do. Like I have said before, we attendees just don’t think about all the work needed to put this on.

Wandering around the floor is like running an obstacle course. Everyone is so busy. I try to stay in the background and out of the way. I was walking the center aisle and stumbled on to the Southern States booth - literally. My friend Tom Speas was busy working on the floor. He saw me and waved me over. They were in the final stages of setting up the booth. It is all most done. But one piece of equipment work on checkout. After is was 20 feet in the air, it wasn’t working. Murphy is helping.

I look around the exhibitor’s areas and scratch my head. At this point, the number of packing crates still out numbers the equipment erected. I know it is all going to come together by 10am tomorrow morning, but it is still amazing.

As an attendee, I never thought about the work it took to show off all the products I walked past. The exhibitors should be given a salute for all they do. I appreciate them so much more now that I have been allowed to go through that door ahead of the opening.

It is amazing how much heavy equipment is on the floor for the set up of the exhibitions. The equipment is the same as needed in the field to set up breakers, transformers, lines, etc. As I wandered, I had to look up - way up, and look all around. It is easy to miss something really cool.

I got inside the exhibition hall and took lots of photos of the preparations. Wow, what an crazy place. This is one big dark hall. The lights are set very low, but it is not quiet. No one is napping. Fork lifts are speeding around and dodging golf carts. Golf carts are the sports car of the hall. Everyone is using them to get from point “A” to point “Z”.

One side benefit of PES is all the old friends we meet at the meetings and conferences. In 2008 I met a great guy working with the local group, Carl Segneri. He was the chair of the “Windy City Wise Guys” - the local committee. I was amazed, I found Carl and his wife here talking with Tommy Mayne. We all had a great time visiting.

It didn’t take me long to get in trouble - about 15 minutes. I was wondering the floor taking photos for the sneak peak I promised. One of the guards came up and started chewing me out… something like how do you think you are! You can’t take photos here. Nothing I said made any difference - she would not budge. So, I left.

I had a similar problem in Chicago. Yes I have a long history of being a scofflaw and not following directions. I went to another new friend I met at this Expo. She is a very nice lady - Barbara Powell. She is the force behind the scenes here. She keeps everything running smoothly. She is so busy, I really hated to bother her. But, part of my job is to get photos for the blog readers. Especially the behind the scenes the attendees don’t get to see.

She gave me a new set of credentials. I will be back on the floor with the Nikon and will post them for you. Stay tuned - i will try to stay out of trouble.