2006 Summer Convention Reflections

By Douglas Easter

Wow! What a weekend we had during the 69th Annual VAB convention, with seminars from the VAB law firm, Terri Sjodin , who spoke on “New Sales Speak: The 9 Biggest Sales Presentation Mistakes and How to Avoid Them” and Ward Burton as our Distinguished Virginian of the Year.

If you were not there, we encourage you to participate next year during the same week, June 14-16 2007.

Our Thursday evening opened with a Casino night and a reception on the top of the Hilton Hotel overlooking the Virginia Beach skyline, as well as the Atlantic Ocean.

On Friday, we awoke to what is considered the largest art show on the East Coast. All who were there raved at the hundreds—and I mean hundreds—of tents that displayed local and national artwork for what seemed to last for miles down the boardwalk.

The Boardwalk Art Show and Festival is one of the oldest and best outdoor fine art shows on the Eastern seaboard.

The show is consistently ranked in the top 40 of Sunshine Artist Magazine’s Top 200 Art Shows. With an average attendance each year of more than 300,000, this four-day festival is one of the most popular in Virginia, attracting collectors and artists from across the nation.

Our convention date will once again fall during this event which attracts tourists from all over the world.

On Friday evening, we had our yearly awards banquet where we recognized Denny Royer as the C.T. Lucy Distinguished Service Award winner, along with Phil Luttrell as the George Bowles Broadcast Journalism Award winner and Ellsworth Neff as the J. Jerry Freeman Engineering Award winner. I congratulate them all.

Those in attendance during our Friday session heard NAB President David Rehr speak about NAB issues and where he would like to concentrate his efforts for the industry over the next couple of years.

Again, if you were not in attendance at this year’s meeting, please mark the dates for next year’s convention on your calendar. I know you won’t be sorry you attended!