>play was put together by Haas's digital media club, and having the right (Israeli) connections meant that Dana and I got to be volunteer photographers. We had to sign up to cover two sessions (we opted for "lunch" and "after-conference cocktails") and got a free t-shirt and the chance to wear important looking badges with "official photographer" on.
Haas is held in very high regard in the US, with those in the Bay Area extremely proud of what they consider the best business school in the world (which, of course, it is). You don't always realise that when you're in the middle of it all, but seeing the representatives from Microsoft, Yahoo and Firefox - to name a few - who attended today was impressive. Japanese firms had flown over to exhibit, and the panel discussions included many competitors sitting around the same table and talking about their industries.
But forget all that. What this was really about was the toys. They had this round table that you put perspex blocks on and moved them around. The table was like a monitor, and joined them all up with pulsing lines, and it made music! It was incredible!!
Another table was a touch sensitive screen that you laid your phone or camera on and it showed all the photos and music you had on there. You could then drag them around, upload them to other phones you'd placed on there too, resize them with your fingers...and you could paint on it using a virtual pallette but real paint brushes!
They had little pads that you placed your gadgets on and they recharged without having to plug any wires into them. They had mobile phone chargers that worked on wind power. They had a machine that could "print" you any 3D object, no matter how intricate, in white plastic.
It was all very exciting.
More importantly, someone had actually asked me to take as many photos as I physically could in a day and no one shouted at me for doing so. It was like a dream come true.
Welcome to Haas!
Sagy guards the guests' lunches.
Access all areas.
Rock god Elad records using an online studio. You play your bit, and people all over the world can add their parts to build up a complete song!
Printed on a 3D printer! The exhibitors came from the Netherlands, and I spent a good 15 minutes talking to them about the weather in Europe.
Wind power for your mobile. "Sorry, could you repeat that? It's really windy here..."
Dana and Amir. Ahhhhh.
Who's this incredibly proficient looking photographer? Surely a professional.
This is the music table, flown in from Barcelona. Wow.
For an idea of its true awesomeness, watch this.
Dana plays a game that you control with your brain waves! Apparently she found it hard to relax (we were working, after all...)
Painting on the Microsoft Surface. See it in action here.
Big man from Microsoft. Even bigger Xbox.
Yes, it was all incredibly hard work.
What conferences are really all about.
The end.
