Five Towns students hit NYC Javits Center for AES and NAB
Audio and Mass Comm students enjoy hands-on demos with the Audio Engineering Society and National Association of Broadcasting.
By Brandon McAteer
Additional reporting by Stephen Cooney
Five Towns College’s Audio and Mass Comm students took a trip to the Audio Engineering Society (AES) convention at the Javits Center in Manhattan on Wednesday, October 9th. Upon arrival, students registered at the front desk and received their badges, followed by a group photo to commemorate the trip. The three-day convention was packed with everyone from established music-producing professionals to audio engineering hobbyists. Before entering the convention floor, Five Towns students and professors enjoyed lunch and anticipated the day ahead.
The convention floor was filled with creative booths, showing off various recently released pieces of consumer audio equipment, like speakers, headphones, microphones, mixing boards, midi keyboards, and upcoming music production software. Some students sat in on one of the many programmed events. Many vendors hosted giveaways for convention attendees to win a piece of equipment. Students could also experiment with professional items shown in the booths. Five Towns student Max Cohn said, “I like all the technology, the colors, and the buttons I get to press. I don’t like walking, but it’s okay.”
The AES convention was generally well-received by students. Another Five Towns student, Brian K, said, “It’s nice seeing all the different booths and the fancy audio equipment. And even then, among the few producers we’ve seen, there was one we saw. We didn’t talk to him at all, but hey, I saw him.”
Also in the Javits Center was the NAB Show, an annual work show by the National Association of Broadcasters. Each year, over twelve thousand industry professionals attend to network and see the latest trends and emerging technologies in the broadcasting, radio, and television industries. Some Five Towns Mass Comm students focused on these exhibitions and attended NAB’s career fair.
Many prominent industry leaders, including Canon, Fujifilm, and Vizrt, hosted booths across the convention center to showcase their products and held live demonstrations. “It was really cool to see a lot of big names in the industry. Plus, there were so many hands-on examples of equipment and technology, so it was absolutely worth going,” said Mass comm major Fernando Gomez.
Five Towns students reconvened in the lobby at 2:30 pm to catch the bus back to Dix Hills, ready to apply some of the knowledge and inspiration they received from the day’s events.
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