CES 2009

I don’t know how it could be possible, but this year’s CES is shaping up to be even more fun and downright exciting than last year’s. Bill Gates won’t be giving the keynote, but there will still be a star-studded cast of speakers and enough spectacular products to make your head spin. I case you didn’t know, the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) is the premier computer and electronics event of the year, attended by over 125,000 techies and audio/video industry professionals. It is put on, very capably, I might add, by the industry group CEA (Consumer Electronics Association). Though not quite as large or computer-centric as COMDEX was, CES provides plenty of vendors and products for computer people and seems to be profitable, due in large part to the money and energy brought by the presence of the entertainment industry

Once again, circumstances have conspired to prevent me from attending this year, though I am hoping for a last minute reprieve. But, if I were going, here is what I would be doing:

Pre-Show - Tuesday

The show starts officially on Thursday, January 8^th, 2009, but there is a lot of pre-show activity which makes it worthwhile to arrive in Vegas a couple of days early. Besides, if there is nothing happening on the show front, there is always plenty to do there, anyway. The first pre-show events were speeches, the first from 2 to 3 PM by CEA Analysts on the State of the Industry, followed by the CEA Senior Director of Market Research, Tim Herbert, on Global CE Market Trends from 3 to 4, both at the Venetian in Bellini 2105. Another pre-show event to which I was invited was the “iTunes Tagging HD Radio Stations” which took place at the event called “CES Unveiled” at the Venetian Ballrooms A-D at 4 PM on Tuesday, by invitation only. This was followed at 5:45 PM by the Storage Visions Reception in the Sunset Ballroom at the Flamingo. Check out Gizmodo’s coverage of “Unveiled” at http://gizmodo.com/341092/ces-unveiled-were-here.

Pre Show – Wednesday (Press Day)

Wednesday, January 7th, is Press Day, when the mainstream media, technical publications, online publishers and bloggers own the show. From 8 AM to 5 PM at the Venetian, there will be a constant rush of simultaneous press conferences from virtually all of the major players in Consumer Electronics and Computing and Networking. There will be new product information, direction statements, general news, plain old BS/schmoozing, or simple entertainment, but attendees will be flying between sessions in case something important is announced.

 When the PCs are over, I intend to be at the 60th Annual Technology and Engineering Emmy Awards, yes, those Emmys, presented by the same National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (NATAS). It is a little different from those other Emmys, though, as the following award illustrates:

“For Pioneering RF Combiners for Adjacent Channels on Common Antenna Systems, the winners are Harris, Micro Communications Inc. (MCI) and Radio Frequency Systems (RFS).”

The Emmys are at the Venetian from 7 to 10 PM, while other invite only parties will be roaring at the Palms Place, Grand Penthouse (CoolTronics/Redux/FutureLooks) and the Mirage (Digital Experience).

The Big Event – Thursday

Thursday is also packed with Press Conferences, including Stevie Wonder at 1 PM. But the main event for me is the showroom floor, so I will be visiting booths and going to demos that were prearranged weeks ago via email from vendors. My interest is primarily in home electronics/computer integration and networking, which is exploding and attracting vendors from other fields, such as Cisco, so I will be concentrating on vendors of those products.

When the show floor closes, I will be headed for one of three parties, either the Support.com bash at the Bellagio Penthouse Suite, the Showstoppers gala at the Wynn Lafite Ballroom, or the Center Partners VIP party at the Flamingo Metropolitan Suite.

Day 2 – Friday

Friday may be the biggest day, yet. I am packed with appointments from weeks ago, including the CEATEC Japan Media Breakfast at 8 AM at the Sands/Venetian Casanova 501/601.

Day 3 – Saturday

Last Day – Sunday

Booth Visits

I don’t know precisely when I would fit these in, but these are definitely “must-sees”:

Almost Like Being There

You can see the Emmy live or replay at http://www.tvworldwide.com/events/emmys/090107/default.cfm?test=0&live=1&type=wmhigh

CES is also on FaceBook at http://www.facebook.com/pages/International-CES/9181619833