To Boston and Back

Nothings worse that being part of a focus group on a Monday morning. It's like jury duty but no way out of it. If your not sure what a focus group is it's a collection of people who are paid very little moola to express candid opinions about a service or product. Respondents sit in a 2-way room answering questions from a 3rd party moderator while the product or service's team of techs, engineers and staff jot down valuable feedback. It's kind-of like asking a test audience to watch a premier showing before it's public theater release and then deciding if it needs re-editing, re-shooting or re-marketing. In any event, for a creative shooter like myself it's quite possibly more dull than videotaping wet paint dry. And today's focus group discussion was held in Boston, a haul and a half from Albany. Unlike driving to NYC, radio stations along the Mass Pike are filled with non-commercial college stations playing old favorites. A little Snow Crash and Keane mixed with Journey and The Kinks. That, at least, helped wash away a little of the lingering minutia of the day.