Intel China's Modding Expo

Showtime

Tuesday morning marked the day of the big event – the press conference at Beijing’s best conference centre, “The Place.” The event would host 65 different media outlets in China (including China’s largest English-speaking TV network, CCTV-9) as well as a couple western news houses that focus on finance.

Set-up for the event was a massive undertaking. The set was originally designed to take place in the gardens of the convention centre during an outside show. However, the threat of rain in the forecast moved the event event indoors to a ballroom. We learned at this time that the event would not only be shown on CCTV-9, but one of China’s most popular broadcast anchors, Ji Xiaojun, would be the host.


In preparation for the event, Tuesday morning was spent in a dress rehearsal. The modders were briefed on what kinds of questions to expect (the actual interview questions would be decided on the spot by the host), and then brought out for a dry run before the press got there.


Once the actual PR event began, people began to relax and have fun. The press was given a brief introduction to modding by the host, followed by a statement from Nancy Bhagat, Vice President, Sales and Marketing Group Director, Integrated Marketing Intel Corporation. Then it was time to line up the modders, who were introduced individually in a rock-star like entrance.


Once the introductions had passed, it was time to get into the interviews - each modder was asked a series of questions regarding his inspiration for the case, his thoughts on modding, and the hardware inside. Then Intel's tech expert Jack Chuang would come talk about the performance of each mod while running a tech-demo. Once the individual interviews were over, the press was let loose to speak one-on-one with the individual modders. Of course, many of you might be wondering where the pictures are of the event itself - for that, just turn the page.

Meet and Greet

After the press conference was over, a group of University students and DIY builders would meet with the modders for a repeat of the conference (with slight changes) and some face-to-face question and answer sessions.

The show started with a delicious buffet complete with a metre-high ice sculpture. The food was fantastic, but even more delicious were the unusual drinks they served. Dubbed as "safe for the students," we were told they were just mixtures of kiwi and pineapple juice. Later, we found out our suspicions were correct... but not before hearing Gert's other famous tag-line for the trip, "I'll bet you a beer!" Intel should have branded the glasses with "Vodka Inside."

Once the buffet wrapped up, we had a show similar to the press event. This time, the show started off with an interpretive dance group, which made for an interesting beginning. Lulu herself was the host of the evening's festivities, interviewing each of the modders just like the broadcaster did before.


After the show, students were encouraged to go and talk to each of the modders, asking questions about everything from design decisions to favourite types of hardware. It's hard to describe some of the more technical aspects or building methods between two languages, but the interpreters did a good job. However, if you see someone build a mod involving live fish or cat tails because David Beckham told him to, we'll know there was an error.