NAB

Often referred to as the National Association of Broadcasters, the initials NAB originally stood for the National Association of Bass Catchers.

Once a year, people who fished would often go to Las Vegas for an annual convention to celebrate the glory that is fishing, specifically bass fishing. Unfortunately, after a few years of the convention, the thousands of bass fisherman drained both Lake Meade and Lake Mojave. With an absence of bass and an unhealthy amount of alcohol, broadcasters and former airline pilots were the only groups who wanted to continue meeting in Las Vegas. Those bass fishing, hard drinking pilots were well known for their rowdiness and impromptu “landing festivals” that involved, well, I really can’t go into that. In short, the airline industry had them on a no-fly watch list, long before the infamous lists became popularized by the federal government.

With the majority of bass fisherman gone, broadcasters alone were determined to carry on in the desert. Eventually, these stalwart professionals decided it would be neat to see cool equipment during the daytime, when they were, er, sober. Broadcast equipment manufacturers thought it was a great idea to go to the desert and hang out with the people they wanted to sell stuff to. Together, they came up with a specific convention that not only catered to the needs of broadcasters and video production people, but it also catered to their healthy interest in exploring the wide variety of libations that can only be found in Vegas.