Fast Company Recommended Events: December-January 2008

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photograph by Joan Marcus/DreamWorks Theatricals

photograph by Steve Pyke

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sun, january 04
Play Ball
florida gets Powerball

Hold on to your pacemakers: Sunshine State residents can finally squander their cash on a one-in-many-millions chance to win a multistate jackpot. After more than 10 years of debate, Florida is joining the Multi-State Lottery Association, becoming the last of the nation's 42 lotto-playing states to add an interstate game. The appeal is obvious: Powerball's average jackpot is $140 million, compared to $10 million in Florida Lotto. Florida lottery secretary Leo DiBenigno says he's not worried about cannibalizing state-lottery sales: "The only focus is that our bottom-line net sales increase." Powerball is projected to boost sales by $143.6 million in the first six months. -- ACL

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thu, january 08
Exhibit
AVN Adult Entertainment Expo
Las Vegas

This may be hard to explain to the frat boys of America, but according to many participants at the AVN Adult Entertainment Expo, there's just too much free porn online. With the rise of illegal file sharing and booming YouTube-like sites that flood the Web with often-pirated content, porn prices have plunged toward zero. Still, "compelling content is flourishing," says Scott Rabinowitz of the ad shop Traffic Dude. The question at AVN, the industry's largest annual event, will be whether anyone can figure out how to get people to pay for it. -- Michael Estrin

fri, january 09
Sail Away
London international Boat Show
London

Oh buoy! The superyacht market is still bullish. In 2008, 916 of these luxury cruisers, which measure 80-feet-plus and start at $4 million, were being built, up 18% from 2007. So expect this show to be flooded with recession-oblivious oligarchs coveting the ultimate water ride. One favorite: the 37M Trideck, a 121-foot, five-bedroom beast from the British firm Sunseeker. For just $18 million, you even get digitized stabilizers designed to minimize seasickness! Barf-prone billionaires, this one's for you. -- TB

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sun, january 11
Sputter
North American International Auto Show
Detroit

The Detroit motor show is turning 21, but this year's edition of America's top car expo won't feel like much of a party. "Manufacturers are looking at the economic situation and asking, 'Can we get through this?' " says Joe Serra, the show's senior cochair. The biggest buzz is expected to come from foreign makers including Honda, which will be showing its Insight hybrid. Maybe Motor City should make like most 21-year-olds and head for the nearest bar. -- Clayton Neuman

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thu, january 22
Swab
World Biobanking Summit
Palm Springs, California

Biobanks -- genetic repositories mined for research -- are burgeoning. "The biggest problem in this field is that it's expanding so quickly," says biotech analyst Enal Razvi, a speaker at this new mini-summit, an addition to the Stem Cell & Regenerative Medicine World Congress. Hot topics will include the spread of cord-blood banks and spit parties, where guests deposit DNA to be screened for things like freckle prevalence. The summit's star: Paul Downey, a director at the U.K. Biobank, where the DNA of half a million Britons is being studied. No word yet on that stiff-upper-lip gene. -- KR

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thu, january 22
Shred
Winter X Games 13
Aspen/Snowmass, Colorado

What started as an alternative Olympics for fringe snow sports now airs 19 hours of coverage on ESPN and ABC over four days. Viewership grew 17% in 2008, with especially healthy gains among the coveted demographic of guys aged 18 to 34. And regulars like Tanner Hall and Shaun White are now global brands. The result of this wintry mix: an opportunity for sponsors to hit a key target with precision, a trick even the squarest exec must admit is pretty sick. -- CD