by Dot Cannon
How could anyone create a viable product in one day?
This Saturday, in Los Angeles, the Audio Engineering Society will demonstrate. And you’re cordially invited to watch–and give feedback.
AES’ 141st annual International Convention started Thursday, September 29th in the L.A. Convention Center. Among the special events, panels, workshops and exhibitions is an all-day, first-ever Super Session, happening on Saturday.
During the convention’s opening ceremonies on Thursday afternoon, AES President John Krivit explained this new addition to the program.
“Scott Leslie..a pretty brilliant engineering guy, came to us, and he said, ‘I want to do something for product development completely different,” Krivit said. “(He said), ‘I want to do a product development session where I put a bunch of really smart guys into a room for a whole day..and then have the audience sort of wrap around them. And we’re going to start from beginning to end, and create a product in one day.'”
Krivit said he was reluctant at first. “I’ve spent a part of my career working for manufacturers and it would take eighteen months to create a product. If this works, it’s not going to be good for the product-marketing guys,” he commented, as the audience laughed. “Apparently, what takes eighteen months can be done in a day. And I watched this thing emerge…and I think it’s going to be fascinating. And it’s just one example of the kind of innovative stuff we’re turning people loose to do.”
Krivit encouraged listeners to attend the “Product Development Super Saturday”, which starts at 9:00 this Saturday morning, October 1. (Here’s a link with more information on this special Super Session!)
But that’s only one of the special features of this year’s program.
Studio engineering–then and now
Before the official opening ceremonies, Day One of AES’ 2016 convention opened with a special event called “Brunching With Bonzai”. Award-winning photographer, journalist and author Mr. Banzai, a/k/a David Goggin, moderated a discussion of studio production with two generations of studio engineers: Dr. Jack Douglas and his son Blake.
Dr. Jack Douglas, who produced John Lennon and Yoko Ono’s “Double Fantasy” album, talked about his days as a working musician in the 1960s. He started, he said, as a janitor in New York City–until a chance meeting with a member of The Who in 1969 gave him the opportunity to engineer “Who’s Next”. Next came engineering for John Lennon–on his classic Imagine.
Douglas recalled working with Lennon on Double Fantasy, years later. “He loved technology. When we got into the studio he was curious about everything; he was crazy about new pedals.”
Despite his talent, though, Douglas remembered Lennon as being very insecure about his work. Before going into the studio to record Double Fantasy, Lennon gave him cassettes of music on which he’d been working, for consideration for the album.
“His first question: ‘Do you think this is any good at all?'” Douglas said.
Blake said he vaguely recalled growing up in the studio with Lennon helping him push buttons–but was too young to be impressed. He started his own career, he said, as a DJ in the early ’90’s. Currently, he’s a studio engineer–but that’s only one of the hats he wears.
“I do thirty different things. I get calls for, literally, thirty things a day,” he said.
His father concurred: “If you just say, ‘I’m going to be an engineer-producer, you’re going to be a waiter.”
A taste of things to come
Among the Thursday tutorials was an opportunity to get a feel for product management.
Greg Riggs of Guitar Center and Scott Leslie, of Ashly Audio, conducted a morning session on “Product Management 101: The Business and Marketing Behind the Product”.
“How might you find out what some of the most important customer values are (for what you want to supply)?” Leslie quizzed the audience. “Right–the reviews (on competitors’ products).”
During this session, the audience received a preview of the product which the Saturday SuperSession will be developing: a high-end speaker, called Speak2Me.
“We need to come up with, how do we know what the market opportunity is,” Leslie said, explaining that he’d researched the number of speakers which competitors sold yearly, world-wide.
Branding, Riggs said, was an important consideration in creating a new product. “Does your brand allow you to go there? Does it fit with your brand?”
Meanwhile, the exhibit floors, demos and workshops were drawing a lot of interest.
People were enjoying growing and learning together as a community.
Discussions, overheard in the hallways, centered around transducers and connections–and ways to keep the audio field growing in the twenty-first century.
Great Day 1, AES 2016! See you tomorrow–and we’re looking forward to Saturday.
Audio Engineering Society’s first-ever “Product Development Super Saturday” starts at 9 am, Saturday, October 1 in Room 402AB of the Los Angeles Convention Center. There will be four sessions for this workshop, geared towards developing a top-of-the-line audio product in one day! Meanwhile, AES’ Day 2 sessions start at 9 am, Friday, September 30th in Los Angeles Convention Center.