Great Night At The Annual Preset Group Mixer

February 12, 2014 by Dave Haynes

Another Preset Mixer is in the can and the reviews last night were all good.

We had 317 registered and 311 showed up. Now, there were a bunch of no-shows but there were, in turn, dozens of people who just kinda showed up. That could have been a problem because we were understanding the place was snug with 300, but once I got in and looked around it was clear it could handle a lot more than that. So I spent most of the mixer at reception OK’ing people who weren’t “on the list.”

Met tons of new people and caught up with a lot of old friends who I see all of once a year, at DSE.

The big takeaway was what people tell me they get out of the mixer. A big crowd and lots of senior people means they can in three hours meet and connect with people who are impossibly booked up the rest of DSE week. One sponsor told me this was the best marketing investment he makes annually, which was cool to hear.

I mostly liked the venue, but it was snug in the check-in area, the AV tech was ancient, and the whole lounge in a hotel thing is a combination of expensive and a pain in the butt. We had a mandatory security guy checking IDs on everyone, even guys who clearly were on the wrong side of 50. Silly.

Hopefully, we’re back at the Hard Rock in 2015.

Two particularly nice things:

Sam Mekonen from Seenspire hand-carried some prized Belgian Trappist beer, all the way from Antwerp, to give me as a little gift.

Jim Nista from Insteo showed up, at least part of him. He’s been a big fella as long as I have known him, but has lost something like 75 pounds the old school way – better eating and exercise. He looked terrific, and if you see him at DSE today, you’ll do a double-take.

I will post more pix later when I have a chance to look them over and edit.

Big big thank you to the sponsors!