“In New York…concrete jungle where dreams are made of. There’s nothin’ you can’t do. Now you’re in New York…” We got the opportunity to visit this concrete jungle again recently for NAB New York. This year, there was a bunch of people at the trade show, which was reflected in the record-breaking attendance numbers: 15,404 people, a nearly 30% increase over 2015’s preliminary registered attendance of 12,055.

It was an interesting time to be in New York for this show since we were there when the US election was happening. The show started off slow since it started the day after the election and many attendees were part of the press and media covering it. Between the secret service and Hilary’s camp, it was a bit chaotic in New York. It seemed that NAB East was a bit inconvenienced by the election, but fortunately, the show picked up after an initial slow start.

At this year’s NAB New York, we showcased three new products: the EC1 gimbal stabilizer, the Mylo LED lights, and the Blitz 400 wireless transmitter video system. People really liked the gimbals that we had especially the EC1, Fly-X3-Plus, Fly-X3-Go, and MS1. In addition, our line of 4K monitors such as the DH7, DH5e, and VL35 were popular. We received good feedback on our smaller monitors – people thought they were light enough to fit on camera rigs and weren’t too expensive. Attendees were also very impressed by the specs of the BON monitor line.

For lights, people loved seeing the Lyra soft lights, especially the Lyra 30 prototype (coming soon). The Mylo LED lights and the Stryder SB200 also got some buzz. In addition, we talked to people about studio opportunities with DMX lighting and many universities and colleges were interested. At the booth, we had a setup with a D12 and a Blitz attached to a stand that you could move around wirelessly, which people really liked.

We noticed that most attendees at NAB NY were camera operators, cinematographers, media houses, some independent filmmakers, film students, dealers, and educators. Broadcasters, higher education professionals, and students seemed to make up a large amount of the attendees.

We also did a raffle and gave away a couple of products such as the FLY-X3-Plus, FLY-X3-Go, DH7, iLED-MA, iLED-MS, some HDMI cords, Ikan sunglasses, and Ikan t-shirts.

We had fun meeting everyone at NAB New York. During the trade show, we participated in the Mannequin Challenge (#MannequinChallenge) where we had everyone in our booth freeze for about a minute. This viral video sensation has been spreading through the Internet and has spread from teens all the way to the Denver Broncos and even to Michelle Obama and the Cleveland Cavaliers.

If you haven’t seen it yet, check out our take on the Mannequin Challenge in this video:

See you all next year! If you want the latest updates on our products, please subscribe to the free Ikan newsletter.