Thursday is the last day of the exhibition. It’s time to take some final meetings and make a last sweep through the exhibition and Job Fair to see what’s up. I met some of our friends from CGSociety for lunch where we talked about some interesting collaborations for the upcoming year, including the possibility of offering CheckMate classes as part of their very successful CGWorkshops.
With Kristy and Andrew from CGSociety
In the NewTek booth, there was a lot of excitement around Lightwave 11. Although the release wasn’t new at Siggraph, there were nonstop presentations to large crowds interested in new dynamics tools and shaders for 11.5 (due out at the end of the year), and Lightwave’s seemingly bulletproof FBX import/export. For the occasion, NewTek brought back a familiar face: Kiki Stockhammer, the notorious demo jockey for the Video Toaster in the 1990’s. Kiki, who always knew her stuff, was an inspiration back when SIGGRAPH was very light on female attendance. Nowadays Kiki’s main occupation is Lead Singer in the Star Trek homage band Warp 11, but she’s returned to NewTek as a part-time presenter.
3D gals gotta stick together!
And what SIGGRAPH would be complete without swag? Strangely, the best swag was at the Job Fair. While I searched for a candidate for our newly listed Senior Technical Artist position, I picked up a few items to take home.
Belt pack from Globo
Mouse pad from Keyshot
Slot machine from WMS
On my way out, I discovered that SIGGRAPH was holding a $3 sale on Electronic Theater and Animation Festival DVDs from years past. This was, of course, impossible to resist. With my arms fully laden, I left the convention center with visions of home-based film festivals in the comfort of my living room, complete with microwave popcorn.
11 DVDs with more than 24 hours of animation and CG. Yes, I will be rather busy this weekend.
And with that, I bid a fond farewell to SIGGRAPH. Until next year, that is!