I recently shot a couple of events for the 23rd Symposium on User Interface Software and Technology or UIST as the hip kids call it.  I can’t even begin to tell you what this is about, but I think it involves making computers work better.  At the awards show I asked a guy what he won a prize for and he explained it to me and I just blinked at him so he tried to dumb it down for me, and I still had no idea what he was talking about, so another guy dumbed it down for me a second time and I still have no idea what he won for.  I seriously have never felt dumber in my life.  That being said I was also the tallest person in the room and I gave a 20 min lecture on New York nightlife to a few people, so maybe we are even or something. Actually everyone I talked to was pretty awesome and the whole thing seemed very interesting if completely over my head.

The symposium lasts all day for several days and at night they have a party. I was hired to shoot three parties by the boyfriend of one of my earliest college chums. I couldn’t make the one on Monday night because I had to watch the worst football game I have ever seen in my life. I did shoot two events… the opening night reception at the New York Hall of Science in Queens and a mad science themed awards banquet at The Theater for the New City. Both of them had some pretty cool elements.

The opening night reception was in a big ugly room and people were just standing around eating and talking and I just walked around taking pictures of tech geeks eating. It seemed like it was going to be pretty boring until they made an announcement that the whole Hall of Science was open for us to play in.  It is a pretty fantastic science museum and we had the whole place to ourselves.  It is also amazing to watch computer programers discuss a science museum built for children. At one point I heard a woman say “Don’t ruin the magic!” when someone explained how one of the exhibits worked. I photographed everyone but I aslo got to play with stuff myself! I found out I can throw a baseball about 50mph which is pretty good for a guy who has a completely destroyed shoulder and throws like a girl now.  It was actually pretty embarrassing trying to throw a baseball for the first time in a decade. I can’t make a full rotation in my shoulder so a few of the balls went flying into the ground.  My high jumping skills were a bit better but I never got to try the arm wrestling machine… but I guess there is always next time.

On Tuesday night they had the awards banquet with amazing food and crazy blue drinks that bubbled when they put dry ice in it.  All the staff were wearing lab coats and there was a big chandelier made out of Laserdiscs. There was an open bar and everyone got pretty fun and they gave people all sorts of awards for things I could never conceptually grasp. The Theater for the New City is a pretty cool space on 1st Ave and it was cool to get a chance to check that out.  They did have an art show up while this was going on and there were some some relatively offensive art on the wall involving nudity, nazis and black face but no one seemed too offended… I ate four mini cannolis and a plate full of some dead meat so I was happy.  All and all a good night. I hope they have me back next year.

Anyway, I separated the images into two galleries.  Click here to see photos from the UIST opening reception at the New York Hall of Science and then click here to see the UIST awards banquet at the Theater for the New City.

Ps. These events made me realize that I hate my new wide angle lens. I apologize for weird flash issues and distortion at the edges of the shots.  Augh.

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