The tech savvy among us need not point out that there is a big difference between robots and just a big pile of machinery. But you’ve got to admit, that is a BIG pile of machinery. Spanning the Lerner East and West Ramp Lounges and spilling across the chasm onto the ramp itself is the large audio-visual muscle of media giant CNBC. 

 

Why are they here? Because it takes a lot of people and equipment to capture the capitalist power of Warren Buffett and Bill Gates, who will be appearing in Roone tomorrow night to answer questions from what CNBC calls “Columbia Business School’s best and brightest minds” on everything from business management to the economic future of the US. They might also need all the wires and stuff to record the event in CNBC-level quality and do whatever they do to get it on television; “Warren Buffett and Bill Gates: Keeping America Great” will be broadcast nationally.

We’ll be LectureHopping, hopefully from a seat near the liveblogger for CNBC’s super cool “Warren Buffett Watch” blog. More pictures of the boxes on the ramp, the “tech” room in East Ramp Lounge and “central command” in West Ramp Lounge after the jump.