James Dean Festival

Over the weekend I had to work at the James Dean Festival in his hometown of Fairmount, IN. The different type of people that congregate in this small town is fascinating. There's the local townies, fans of James Dean, classic car buffs, people caught up in the 50's, and traveling tourists from all corners of the US.

We (the company I work for) was doing wireless simulcasts from a park where activities were being held to the downtown area onto an LED wall. It was rather high tech stuff for a festival this size.




The good part of the two event was the nice weather and surprising amount of beauties in attendance. The bad, was hearing the same songs over and over, not having any protection from the sun, and living on junkfood alley (all the lemon shake ups and pork tenderloins you can handle - for an unreasonable price of course).

After two 16 hour long days, our part of the event was finished. And with the exception of our main power being pulled due to the bum rushing of the stage (yes, you read correctly), the event went off successfully. It was a learning experience for both parties. I always try to think about how to make an event easier for the techs and still get what the client expects. They are several improvements to made on this event. But the pet parade, lasso rock contest, a couple of 50's bands, and the James Dean look a like contest was now in our past. Next year, we might do even more...dual simulcasts!