TDEX was really(!) hectic.
First, I didn’t arrive at the show until the second day due to a scheduling conflict, so I didn’t have much time to adjust. Second, I had to say hi to lots of friends, which is the best part of the event, but it was difficult to catch everyone after things started to get busy.
Third, I had talks to give, which required preparation (yes…of course I wasn’t prepared in advance). And finally, I was running around shooting video interviews with some of the exhibitors.
By the end of each day, all I wanted to do was crash. Had I been alone, that’s exactly what I would have done, but with Gunther Deichmann in town, I spent as much time as I could plugging him with questions about Aperture since he’s a certified instructor…which meant staying up to about 2:00 every night. Of course, having the opportunity to get personalised instruction was worth sacrificing some sleep.
Incidentally…during one of our talks, we had one of those “the-world-is-such-a-small-place” moments.
We were chatting about memorable images, and I described a stunning black-and-white portrait of a girl that I saw while I was working in the Philippines in the early 90s. It was such a striking image that I called the photographer, introduced myself, and went over to his studio to meet him. He and his wife were incredibly nice, and he gave me a signed print of the photo I liked so much.
After all these years, I couldn’t immediately recall his name, but when Gunther heard me describe the photographer in question, he immediately ID-ed him…Bien Bautista.
Bien is well-known, particularly for his black-and-white images, and by coincidence, Gunther has been friends with him for a long time!
In case you’re interested, the image that captured my attention is posted on Bien’s website. Stunning images like this stay in my head forever.
Anyway, the upshot of all this rambling is that it’s still going to take a few days of R&R to return to some semblance of normality.
One thing that’s common to all trade and consumer shows is how rapidly they end.
After everything was packed up, I went out for a celebratory/ thank-god-we’re-done dinner with a few friends. In keeping with the 
Actually, the beer was good (served in enormous quantities), and we ordered some Thai food, including two servings of 
Fortunately, with a bit of discussion and finger pointing (since the staff were probably too deaf to hear a word we were saying), we were able to move to the second level, a bit to the side of the main speakers, so the sound level was only skull-splitting.
The 33rd 
