Fresh Air

On Northwest Fashion

I was shocked and dismayed last week to read this article in the Seattle PI on the supposed debacle of Northwest Fashion.  According to certain New Yorkers "trained in the art", we here in the drizzle pond of Seattle "wear too much plaid and flannel", as well as solidly err on the side of much "too outdoorsy".

I thought, surely they must be wrong.  Clearly, they didn't comfortably seat themselves within one of our beautiful office buildings, or outside the Rainier Club (which doesn't even allow jeans to be worn on premises - no exceptions.)

But it did make me curious, so I started a casual visual survey, designed to run for a full week and take into account several "general" environments:

• The most ubiquitous Seattle scene; a coffee shop.
• A trendy bar/club, which interestingly enough had been compared in a different article as to have been so designed that an attendee wouldn't really know whether they were in NY or Paris (or Seattle!)
• A downtown office building
• An industrial district office building
• A posh private club

And the survey says....(wait for it.....) they were right.  I saw plenty of skin, and plenty of style, but I would characterize most of what I saw as "comfort clothing"; not too loose, not too tight.  Lots of color and texture, and plenty of "mixed bag" outfits - i.e. not too matchy-matchy.  Usually anchored with one or two good pieces complemented by the individuals own sense of self and style. 

I think comfort clothing is somewhat analogous to comfort food, and with much the same intention.  After all, we ARE Northwesterners, who would probably rather be hiking, kayaking, running, beach-combing, skiing, skateboarding or just about any other outdoor activity than what we're currently pursuing in-house. 

To be honest, I dress differently when I go to New York.  For that matter, I dress differently when I go to LA - because it's its own little universe unto itself, amen.  Interestingly enough, the only difference in clothing for me between LA and NY is the weight of the fabric and the season in which they're worn. 

Maybe as an alternative to tsk tsking about our gortex and polypropylene, and the well-supported spandex market (no pun intended), those snarky "What Not to Wear" folks should just give it a rest and get comfy in an anorak and a pair of running tights.  Or, perhaps its that their physique just can't stand up to the test...?  In any regard, let's just leave it at "we're okay, they're okay."

Today, I am running my software company dressed in a pair of chinos, a navy turtleneck and my favorite Eddie Bauer quilted vest, finished at the foot with my faithful, well worn 6 year-old Cole Haan slip-ons.  I'm a lot happier than when I'm in my 3" stilts with a pencil skirt, breast-hugging shirt and well cut blazer.  And it shows.  No wonder I've made this side of the world my permanent home.  Northwest fashion running afoul of the style mavens?  You bet, and I hope it stays that way!

Trade Show Madness

I'm on a 6am flight to Las Vegas tomorrow morning.  No, it's not for the sound of tumbling dice and spinning roulette wheels.  It's for one of the largest trade shows they host on an annual basis: NAB, or the National Association of Broadcaster's show.  Last year I watched Oprah receive "Broadcaster of the Year" in a touching ceremony attended by 30,000 or so close personal friends.  Actually, if anyone has that many folk fond of one, it's probably her!

Vegas is like another world.  For one, everything has been super-sized beyond human scale, and it takes hours to walk from one venue to another.  Yes, the Grand Canyon does too, but somehow it seems fair for nature to dwarf us, but oddly wrong for the Bellagio to do so.  And yet, if you look up and out, the desert is beautiful.  It borders on the sacred to experience sunrise and sunset here - as long as you're out of town a bit and can garner some perspective. 

Last year, we exhibited in a small booth kitty-corner from RealNetworks, my Truly Brilliant Husband's former employer and the source of his current fame as the man behind the core technology and algorithms in RealAudio and RealVideo.  Anyone who's "done" a trade show knows it's an opportunity to put forth your best aspects (personality and otherwise) for hours (and hours) and hours on end.  And you never know who might be a "real" customer since qualifying on the floor is tough to do.  So you're nice to everyone, period.  It's exhausting.

This year we are NOT exhibiting.  This year, it's all about the vibe and getting a good grip on who's going to fall next in the digital media creation, management and distribution wars. 

Things are really starting to boil in my industry.  Microsoft recently bought Groove, and has gone head over teakettle for video throughout their online properties.  At the beginning of the year, both Yahoo! and Google announced Video Search capabilities (in beta, but present nonetheless).  Going one step further, Google just announced "video delivery" as a complement to the search process (duh!), and the capper this week: Adobe just bought Macromedia for a cool $3.4B.  That "B" stands for billion, BTW.  Why? to extend their digital platform creation tool suite and media distribution capabilities.

Our architecture nestles nicely as a core technology for a host of "trusted information network" product suites and applications.  It's a bit of a chameleon and can be used to support a wide variety of tasks and needs - in security apps, enterprise podcasting, digital media workflow management, digital content services; pretty much anywhere content gets created, lives or needs to move from one place to another.  Our job at NAB is to identify the ripest, headiest and most saleable opportunities. 

An interesting shift has occurred in the last 12 months.  To mix metaphors, the winds of change doth mightily stir the pot.  Guaranteed media quality is expected at this point, but security, scalability and robustness take precedence now as hallmarks of a job well done.  The recent consolidation also indicates that end-to-end solutions are the going thing - rather than separate providers for each bit required.  Why?  It's all about control, baby, and don't you forget it.   

After a brief rest of weary dogs, and an enormous cocktail, one turns ones thoughts to after-hours activities.  Vegas nightlife opens a whole new set of doors away from the trade show floor, but what's behind them is equally surreal.  High on the list of upcoming experiences: Rum Jungle, home of 12 courses of meat/fish/poultry, thoroughly skewered and grilled to order.  I'd love to see the new Cirque du Soliel performance, but there may not be time.  Walking the strip is like walking the show floor, but with better decorations and lighting.  And who can resist the late night chocolate buffets?

So wish me luck as I cruise the something like 10 square miles of trade show floor, listening, watching and strategizing as I go.  NAB, here I come!

Life in a Fishbowl, Politically Speaking by Garrett Grath

Thanks to the power of Google search and Google News Alerts, I keep very close tabs on any news about our company and our competitor's offerings.  I get a lot of interesting stuff that has the words "trusted", "media" and "networks" somewhere in the midst of the posting, and generally receive a daily email with articles of note with those words embedded within.

Yesterday, I received a short but enticing blurb about the first blogger to ever be invited to attend the daily White House Press Briefings.  This is notable in that the last major election was really driven by online news distribution and the power of one's personal pen.  Blogging is akin to having your own publishing company - and is fully protected by the First Amendment.  As such, one can always use one's words for good or for evil, but online readers are for the most part well educated and can cull the wheat from the chaff without too much difficulty.

Personally, I'm not too political; I've got my opinions about things but generally try and keep an open mind, espousing an issues-based perspective rather than a party-centric viewpoint.  But I have to say that this site dishes up some tasty treats.  From what I can glean from his experience, for all the hype, active elbowing and line-cutting that goes into becoming one of the White House Press brethren, the experience is actually akin to having stale breakfast food at a very dingy Burger King most days.  Envision snapping, hungry dogs and perhaps a few scraps of meat...  When there's something to talk about, everyone is well fed, but from what I can ascertain, most days all you get is rhetorical, obfuscatory crumbs.  It's the journalist's job then to craft those little niblets into a "story."  I really feel for those network guys!

Anyway, you've got to read his descriptive text on this experience - it's priceless.

To see what Garrett Graff has been up to, what's he's dishing on the antics of Washington (the OTHER one) and what it's been like to gain access to the highly coveted "inner sanctum", please visit his D.C. Fishbowl.