Despite claims of huge swag at the Association of the U.S. Army's annual show in Washington, I must say, it was actually a bit of a disappointment. Rumor had it, the Washington Post story on swag motivated more than a few booths to tuck their goods under the table, leaving nothin' but cheap chocolate out for the masses.
Fun people to watch included Erik Prince, manning Blackwater USA's booth (no visible swag, by the way!). I also nearly ran face first into former Republican Congressman Curt Weldon, who was surrounded by a small crowd near an Israeli company's booth. There hasn't been much news on Weldon, who lost his seat in last November's elections after it was disclosed that the FBI was investigating him in connection with his daughter's consulting contracts. He looked pretty happy.
It wasn't just me doing the watching. My favorite exhibit was actually a company called Quantum3D, which displayed a real-time monitor that picked out people by gender, height and emotion (happy, angry, surprised, etc.) One of the company's reps admitted that the eye-catching display, which uses Quantum3D's camera and computer, was actually dowloadable software produced by a Germany company.
