I attended LDI (Live Design International) last Friday in Orlando, FL. This was my second time at the show (read my report from 2007). Overall, I’d say this year’s show was scaled back from 2007, which is not surprising considering how the economic recession has affected the entertainment industry. There were fewer booths this year, and they weren’t as fancy. A few manufacturers, such as Chauvet and Coemar, brought pretty spectacular booths. Other companies brought large booths (such as ETC and Martin), but they were not as flashy. I’m not sure if Friday is normally a slow day for this conference, but there wasn’t much of a crowd. I didn’t have to wait in line to see anything.
In 2007, I went to LDI to try out control consoles to replace our Hog 1000. That plan fell through when the economy tanked, so this year I was just looking around. Apparently a lot of people were, because the sales people were rather aggressive about jumping onto any apparent interest in their product. One girl tried to scan my badge as I walked by–I don’t even know what she was selling! Actually, that’s a common occurrence at LDI–it’s hard to tell what the actual product is in the booth. All the larger booths seemed to consist of truss, truss warmers, banners, drapes, moving lights, and video. I often had to stop and look for a minute to figure out which one was actually their product!
I will post some photos when I get a chance.