All of a sudden I found myself in the middle of paparazzi, reporters, cameramen, broadcasters and music bloggers. I was at the ACE Hotel on West 29^th Street in Manhattan last night, around 7pm, meeting a client at the hotel known as the digital hangout. The lobby is filled with rows of opened laptops as the next generation of innovators greet and meet each other with a glass of beer in their hands. Once again I am 40-plus years older than the crowd in both the lobby and the bar.

For two days in a suite at the ACE, my client was meeting with what we call “golden ears,” those who have a discerning ear for high quality audio sounds. We were privately demonstrating a revolutionary new audio player to music producers and audio engineers in order to get early feedback. That is all I am allowed to say at this point. We will be making an announcement in the next month or two.

I am sitting  in the bar area with my “very proper,” “pretty conservative,”  Asian client, discussing product rollout plans when we both hear a commotion on the street outside. We decided to investigate. Much to our surprise, lines were forming around the hotel guarded by police and security while the press were setting up remote “reporting” stations.

With client in tow, I ask one of the gals in line what was going on. She replies, “We are here for the “Pussy Riot.” Long Pause!  I am thinking to myself “Boy, is my hearing going bad. I thought I heard her say ‘pussy’ but it must have been something else.” I dare not ask again because I don’t want that word used in front of my client who may have never heard that before. Of course, my client asks me what she said, and I answer “something about animal rights.”

How would I ever explain the word “pussy” to him?  Even though he is 25 years my junior, I just don’t feel like spelling it out. I quickly hail a cab to go home. The minute I get there, I turn on the TV to learn that the Russian female punk rock band, Pussy Riot, were being sentenced to prison because they sang a  song in a church that criticized President Vladimir Putin of Russia.

Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, Maria Alyokhina and Yekaterina Samutsevich

The three women, Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, Maria Alyokhina and Yekaterina Samutsevich , have already spent five months in detention since their arrests in March. It all started when their band started screaming “Mother Mary, please drive Putin away,” in a protest act in February inside Christ Savior Cathedral, one of Moscow’s grandest houses of worship. The women were accused of offending the congregation in the church at the time and for lack of respect for the Orthodox Church. Their arrests and high profile trial caught the attention of people around the world concerned about freedom of speech in Russia.

The show of solidarity at the ACE Hotel was just one of many “meet-ups” around the world.  I hope by the time my client’s product comes out, there is a “happy ending” to the “Pussy Riot.”