Quite a lot was made of a 'new generation' coming into the industry, and 'young blood' rejuvenating its financial muscle. The best example of this was Digidesign's tangential spree at the relocated School of Audio Engineering opposite Macy's, where every evening SAE itself hosted informal tours while Digi and other manufacturers put on seminars. Chief among these was the appearance of cult techno figure Richie Hawtin, revealing esoteric Pro Tools habits and conferring uncontrived cool upon all proceedings and, by inference, the AES itself.
That an AES should unearth this type of profile, and a US one at that, indeed portends well. A glance at the sheer number of relevant product announcements confirms how far this event has come since the dark days of 2001, notwithstanding the US Administration's response to them. Confidence was high, much higher than Amsterdam in May, leaving you to ponder whether, in the end, you simply need to have Americans present to liven up the party and aerosol smiley faces over the European scowl.
