Back in the 80s, Sony followed on the huge success of the Walkman with My First Sony, a series of electronic toys for children, intended to endear them to the Sony brand, no doubt, as the hubristic name implies.
Out of the 80s (and 60s and 70s) came the inspiration for another, much more humble, invention: the DelCor exhibit at #ASAE10. This booth served as the hub of My First ASAE. Like the Sony products, it was bright and bold, perhaps not fully functional, but still incredibly enjoyable.
It almost seems silly to say that, out of everything LA has to offer, I had the most fun in booth #226. (Well, almost. Meeting Susan Feniger was a real highlight.) After all, I spent months pulling it together (inspired by our new ad campaign by Bates Creative Group), weeks promoting it to my colleagues and Friends of DelCor, and a full day assembling it. When the floodgates opened Sunday morning, I was delighted to see the laughs, smiles, and oh-my-goshes of passersby (particularly when they spotted the Commodore 64 on display). (Where, by the way, were all the Apple fans?)
After a full day of exhibiting, an inedible lunch, an unfortunate overlap with afternoon sessions, and a night working the Conga Room, I was a bit weary coming back for day two. But my stick-on moustache turned upside-down when I arrived at the expo hall. Our humble and crazy little booth had been selected Best in Show 2nd Place In-line Booth by first-time attendees. Whoa, dude! It made me feel good not just that we won something, but that people were actually connecting with us, and with this crazy idea that I had.
Day two turned out to be productive and just as fun as the first – only with better lunch! Greg Hill posted our top Pac-Man score with more than 17,000 points. And we gave out almost all of our retro-inspired tchatchkes. (Where will the moustache turn up next?) A live #sweetspot broadcast over our plasma TV and participation in the first-ever Foursquare Technology Booth Crawl rounded out the booth experience and kept me busy – as if seeing fellow DelCorians in retro wear hadn’t already taken the [cup]cake.
DelCorians done up: Loretta M. DeLuca, Bill Walker, Tobin Conley, KiKi L'Italien
Leaving the booth behind on day three gave me a little opportunity for learning beyond the expo hall, but only enough to whet my appetite. Like other attendees, I hope for more session blocks next year, because exhibitors like to learn, too!
I may not have found my mojo in LA, but I found my groovy. It plays well with My First Sony, I might add. So well that I’m already counting down to St. Louis.
Catch you on the flip side!
Fabulous getting to hang with you a little Tobin. This Apple fan regrets not spending more time at the DelCor booth! Noted for next year for sure!
@TeriTally
Posted by: Teri Carden | August 30, 2010 at 06:27 PM