Sixteen:Nine DSE 2023 Mixer Pulls In 300+
December 4, 2023 by Dave Haynes
That’s another Sixteen:Nine DSE Mixer in the can – the 12th or 13th or something.
We had north of 300 people turn up, from about 400 who registered. Some people get tied up, or cancelled for specific reasons, but this year we also had people who couldn’t make it because of LOTS of snow in central Europe.
The other no-show, frustratingly, was the pair of kiosks that were going to streamline check-ins. They were shipped well in advance but never turned up. The logistics company – CEVA Logistics – didn’t deliver the units on site and wasn’t responding to questions through the weekend. So we have no idea what became of them.
You can draw your own conclusions about whether this is a company you’d want to use. Personally, I like companies that step up when there are problems.
A big hat tip to Ed Crowley of URway Holdings, who put a pile of effort and investment into making this happen – only to see a stupid thing like delivery screw the whole thing. He was understandably fuming.
The missing kiosks forced me to Plan B, which involved printing off 400 thermal shipping labels Sunday afternoon in my hotel room. And then my events team – my wife Joy and her sister Sue – cutting all the labels and sorting them in alphabetical order.
Pro tip: Buy the labels made by the manufacturer. I ran off 400+ without a jam.
So we got it done, and the event went off well. We got nothing but positive comments.
The plan this year was that the smooth check-in set-up would make it possible for me to host and run the pre-mixer discussion panel. But the kiosk debacle made that dodgy, so I drafted Florian Rotberg of the German firm invidis to step in. He was just off a 12-hour flight from Munich, came straight from the airport, and took over from me … by all accounts, he was terrific.
I will be eternally grateful to Florian, as being on stage would have made troubleshooting difficult.
Thanks, as well, to panelists Tamara Bebb of Spectrio, Jeremy Gavin of Screenfeed, Jason Helton of SNA Displays and Stan Richter of SignageOS. The four were all great.
I barely ever get past the lobby and into the mixer crowd, and last night I realized why that was good. I slipped in to the main area to grab a beer, started chatting, and was quickly pulled into doing shots of cinnamon whiskey – which sounds terrifying. I said “Not happening …” and retreated to my safe place, the lobby.
The DSE conference went on Sunday. I didn’t go, because of the mixer. My understanding is the exhibit hall is quite small, but will reserve judgement until I physically see it.
I have not found a good place to see the big Las Vegas Sphere, though it is visible from the roads leading away from the airport. One of the better vantage points, funnily enough, is the west hall lobby of the convention center – where DSE is running.
Thanks to all those people who came by. I had a pro shooter, so pix will follow in a few days.
Now on to the next mixer – ISE in late January in Barcelona. Registration for that will start probably next week. Sponsorships for that are already fully sold.
Two nights in Vegas and two nights of good behavior. My liver is happy.
Bedtime.
The event was amazing. The panelist were enlightening, the food and drinks pleasurable, and the networking makes this the best party of the conference.
Thanks again for putting this mixer together. Just this event makes it worth it coming to DSE!
About the sphere, check the terrace on the 2nd floor of the west hall, near the conference rooms 😉
yes, may be best … also told Renaissance hotel good, but only if you have room with strip view
Have fun at the show… It will be interesting to see if the show draws more than the Mixer
Congrats, Dave!
Thanks again Dave for pulling this off. Safe travels all.