Back from Print World

I've been MIA for the past week, as I was away at Print World, a trade show and conference for the graphic arts and printing industry. It was a big show, with big machines. We're talking about printing presses that make posters the size of my living room wall. It was a neat sight to see, but definitely quite an experience getting the show together, underway, and wrapped up.

The adventure began last Thursday 6:30am, as I was on the show floor before the sun was even up. Already there were some workers in hard hats and coveralls, driving around forklifts, putting up large panels, hanging signage from the rafters, and tinkering with machines. There were these gigantic "cherry pickers"--machines that towered over me, reaching to the 50-foot ceiling. Somehow, my job assignment for the day was to go around helping these guys.

Clearly out of place in this print environment, I was called "girlie" and "l'il darlin'" and, by one large fellow, "ma'am". I was on my feet all day long, until 8:30pm the first night and 11pm the next. The 17-hour work shifts were killing my back!

The show itself "opened" on Saturday morning at 10am. Over the next three days, 10,000 visitors came to the show, in the interest of buying printers or equipment or some other nasty loud mechanical thingy. I was in charge of hosting the Print Software Theatre, a 20-ft projection screen and theatre area where visitors arrived to watch presentations by software suppliers like Adobe and Fuji. Every hour, on the hour, a new show, with 60+ people cramming in to see the new cool software.

I've recouped somewhat since the show closed on Monday (followed by a strenuous, long clean up) and have been trying to ease back into the usual program of things by first getting a full-body massage and then trying to catch up on loss sleep (and a loss weekend).

So today marks my first weekend in two weeks and I'm relieved that the show's over and I can once again relax. And update my blog!