Why I have been so busy.

For the month of August we were going crazy around here.  I had been assigned a “top secret” job that took much of my time.  Now that it is over I can talk about it.  My “top secret” job entailed being one of the 5 judges for the Wedding and Event Videographers Association (WEVA) Creative Excellence Awards (CEA).  We won a CEA Gold last  year for a memorial tribute and this year I got to judge many entries.

It all started in early August when a box of 128 DVDs arrived on my doorstep.  I had to watch all 128 DVDs and critique/grade each one and pick the best 5 in the 7 categories I received.  There are 16 categories overall but I only had 7.   After getting all those done in a weeks time I shipped them back and a week later another box showed up on my doorstep.  We got to also judge the DVDs from another judge to make sure we got the best entries to the finals.  My second box only had 75 DVDs in it but many were stage productions that often go 1+ hours in length.  Overall I watched and judged over 200 DVDs in those few weeks. 

At the end of August I finally got to meet the other 5 judges in Chicago to do the final judging.  We spent the better part of 3 days, about 11 hours a day, in a conference room doing the final judging.  It was very tedious and seemed long at times but it was a blast as well. I saw amazing stuff from all over the world and got some ideas from a few I watched that have already morphed into some of my work.  It was educational as well. 

After it was over everyone asked if I would do it again.  I said, “Yes but not for a few years.”  Part of the reward for the judging is we got to help present the awards to the winners in all the categories at the opening night gala at our international convention held in the middle of September.  We got our conference fees covered because of our service so it was a real treat.

I also got to present part of a seminar while at the WEVA convention.  I also spent lots of time at the tradeshow at the booth of my editing software company demo’ing it’s power as an editing application.  What a fun time. 

The highlight of the trip though was on Tuesday night.  Panasonic hosted a late night party and part of the draw was they were giving away a small pro-level camera valued at $2000.  You guessed it, we won the camera.  Here’s a picture when I won it….guess I was a little happy. 

Overall August was busy but fun and our trip to the WEVA expo was a blast.  Not only did we win the camera but we got to renew our friendships with many of the leaders in our industry and make many new friendships.  The best part of the conferences are the discussions in the hallways.  I had plenty of those. 

Things are back to a more normal flow now but it was a fun time.  I know I had told some people about business trips and other stuff in August but couldn’t divulge what they were.  I just wanted to let everyone know what I was up to.