NAB 2022 What to Expect (If You Are Going)

      After cancellations, shifted dates that turned into cancellations, and several Covid precautions updates, we finally have the first NAB since 2019.

      I’ve been going to NAB since 2002, and have only missed one or two NABs since. I consider NAB to be one of my most productive weeks of the year. It is where I reconnect to friends and colleagues, find out what is coming out, and lots of other things. For several years I have produced Post Magazine’s Post NAB Show, and I went as press covering NAB for Post Magazine for several years before that.

      So being denied NAB has had a real impact on me the last two years. But, the stars have aligned, and NAB 2022 is a go. Like a lot of people, I didn’t know if I was going to go this year. I didn’t know if it was going to be worth it to go. A lot of major companies chose not to have booths, opting to either forgo it, do meeting rooms, or hotel suites, or just attend events put on by their PR firms. So, this is not your typical NAB.

      If you’ve never been to NAB, which is the National Association of Broadcaster’s annual show in Las Vegas, I’ll give you a quick rundown. NAB is the largest professional electronics show in the world. It’s not as big as CES (Consumer Electronics Show) which I think usually has about 150,000 attendees, but it’s still huge. Probably the only venue big enough in the US is the Las Vegas Convention Center, which is huge. Typically around 100,000 people attend the show from all over the world. It usually uses up All of the halls at the convention center, as well as the outside area between the Central Hall and the South Halls.

      You will definitely get your steps in if you count steps and that sort of thing. Usually Production stuff is in the Central hall, which is the largest hall, Post Production is in the lower South Hall, the Upper South Hall usually has more stuff like Cloud Services and Networking, but don’t quote me on that, I really spend very little time in the Upper South Hall, and the North Hall has more Broadcast and satellite type of technical gear. They have switched it up a bit over the years and tried to drive more traffic to the North hall having stuff like a VR Pavilion there and stuff like that, but generally that has been the layout.

      This year is a bit different. Because of Covid, there are a lot fewer exhibitors, and a lot fewer attendees, maybe as few as 40,000. Some of this is because of uncertainty about restrictions, or the Covid climate, and some may have to do with travel restrictions, or those who are uncomfortable with mass meetings. In fact until a month or so ago, anyone not fully vaccinated were not going to be permitted, which rules out attendance by those who cannot be vaccinated for medical or religious reasons, or who have other reasons they may choose not to be vaccinated. We are in unprecedented times, with people with very different perspectives on how to handle the situation, and a significant portion of the population not trusting the health authorities. So, a lot of people have been on the fence about going for a variety of reasons. Exhibitors had to make these decisions months in advance, when the situation was very different. So it’s a weird NAB.

      This year, NAB is not going to be using either of the South Halls. Additionally, there is a new, West Hall. Looking over the map, it looks like The Lower South Hall exhibitors will mostly be in the North Hall, with some moved to the Central Hall, and the North Hall and Upper South Hall exhibitors are moving to the new West Hall, basically. But don’t quote me on that, since I don’t usually have enough time to spend any time in either of these halls. But I should have a little more time to explore this year, partly because I’m not producing a show, and partly because it is a smaller show than usual. But I imagine I will spend most of my time in the Central Hall and the North Hall this year.

    Either way, I’m looking forward to reconnecting and having some semblance of a pre-Covid existence.