Off to CES

I'm off to yet another CES. For those not in the industry or even those who are, but travel in different circles, CES is the international consumer electronics show, now in its 40th year.

Despite its size, I was reminded how esoteric this space really is when two pals in the technology industry asked me what CES was. Another friend, an entrepreneurial CEO of a Web 2.5 company, thought he had heard of it, and asked me whether it worth his time? Its largely still focused on hardware, gadgets and the big boys get gold play amidst the noise, whereas the small guys have to fight to be noticed. This is always the way it is. I have noticed a stronger software and Web 2.something presence every year however.

Another friend's response, who is in biotech at Stanford, "oh the place where the cool gadgets, latest iPods and cell phones are launched."

Yup, that's it and more. CES was always second in size to Comdex, before Comdex took a nose-dive. In those days, I often had to make 3 or 4 trips to Las Vegas in a year, between Comdex, CES, CTIA and one or two more obscure vertical market shows.

PodTech is hosting (with Seagate) a BlogHaus this year at the Bellagio and no doubt, vloggers and podcasters will be roaming the floors, parties and events bursting with the need to cover, share and shout in a faster and more grassroots way than perhaps some of the more traditional media outlets can do.

Having said that, folks like ZDNET and others will be doing live coverage from the show floor, Dave Graveline will be doing live and taped radio interviews from the show floor, Scoble will be set up at the Intel booth and the media events my clients are involved in this year, seem to be overflowing with both old and new media.

More from the show floor, that is, if there's a chance to blog or communicate given the crowds, and a likely overload on both cell phones and WiFi bandwidth. It happens every year.