I enjoy attending the Capital Audiofest as it’s retained small show good vibes even though it’s no longer a small show.
One thing I don’t enjoy is complaining but when talking to people about work, complaints inevitably follow. Hell, I’ve complained about this job which is like grousing about the poor fit of a new $2000 pair of loafers (I don’t wear loafers I wear work boots but you get my drift). Sure there’s work involved in this work, but the day-to-day ‘grind’ largely involves music. Woe is me.
One of the things I loved about CAF 2024 was the spectacular variety of gear in play, which reminded me of older CAFs where you’d come across smaller companies building wild passion projects next door to old, established brands. Here’s an idea—passion, smiles, and general good cheer are great ways to grow any business along with professionalism and thoughtfulness. The last thing anyone wants to encounter when attending a trade show is sweaty un-quiet desperation.
“How do we grow this industry?” I’m no business strategist, although I have owned a few companies, and as far as I know nothing grows in perpetuity except weeds and waistlines so it makes sense to plan accordingly ideally based on data not casual observation.
I also enjoy the people at CAF—most exhibitors, attendees, and colleagues (I get along with most of my colleagues regardless of publication)—and as I said the general mood, the vibe, is upbeat and I will share that laughter is among my favorite things and there was plenty of it going around.
In the hotel bar on Saturday night just after show closing I was grabbing a beer for me and a Coke for a new-ish friend so I gently nudged my way between two people sitting at the bar—an old friend to my left (someone I’ve known for 20 years) and a young woman to my right. If you’ve ever been to the bar at Olive’s Restaurant in the Hilton Rockville during a Capital Audiofest you know the power’s that be have yet to figure out it would make sense to employ more bartenders instead of making the one or two they deem appropriate for throngs of thirsty audiophiles run around like floor traders on May 6, 2010.
All to say, I ended up having a lovely and not so short conversation with that young woman at the bar who had stopped in after work to say Hi to her friend who waits tables at Olive’s and to relax with a glass of wine. She wasn’t expecting droves of thirsty audiophiles and as I explained the event and the fact that many of us only get to see each other once or twice a year even though we’ve known each other for years/decades, she replied, “There’s so much energy, such a great vibe.”
If we could bottle that energy, capture that Olive’s bar vibe just after show closing—decidedly not at Olive’s closing time when things can go sour—and hand it out as HiFi Vibe Energy Drink the industry would grow like weeds. As I said to my friend with the Coke, I could solve most of my problems by just changing the way I think about them.
A huge thanks to all of the hard working people in front of and behind the scenes at Capital Audiofest and show organizer Gary Gill for another really big, and fun!, show.
See you next year.
