CES 2009 from Las Vegas
| Once again it is that time of the year for us geeky types to make the trek to the land of plenty, Las Vegas. Each year the town that never sleeps and where the lights never go off is the host for CES (Consumer Electronics Show) where over one hundred thousand people come to see the very latest and also the not yet released gadgets that we all will want. You see this event is where new or old companies use to show off what they come up with to sell in the upcoming year. |
Spread out over one million square foot of convention space is over 2500 vendor booths, but even that is not enough space to display all the new hardware and gadgets. Any hotel that may have an available suite is booked many months in advance by manufactures to showcase their newest technology. Some even have a booth at the official CES grounds and the suites are used for special VIP’s or to conduct one on one meeting. Some are even transformed into cocktail parties so that the after-hours deals can be made. While others use them as the show floors are all booked up. When I was here last year I came across the spot where vendors where already selecting their booth locations and these spots do not come cheap. I have heard prices in the 40-50 thousand dollar range for some booth locations. This does not include the cost of building your booth, shipping it nor the setup or tear down. This also another key factor why some companies rent a suite from a hotel. Sure the suite could cost $2000.00 a night and end up costing a total of $10,000.00 but that is a far cry from the 50 grand it could cost you for a booth.
Deals are made around clock like over a coffee at Starbucks, a hand shake at the vendor’s booth or even over a lavish diner. Who really knows how much money is made in deals each and every day, but over the course of the event it could make or break some smaller companies. The larger well established companies such as Microsoft, Sony, and others are present to show off what they have to offer, but for them it is a great way to get massive amounts of press for any upcoming releases. I am sure that Microsoft will be presenting and displaying the new OS Windows 7. With the public beta release just around the corner, it has been stated that date will be January 13th, 2009, this would be the prime time to get it out to the masses to see, use and to write about. I am hoping that they will have some DVD’s available with Windows 7 on it so that I do not have to wait.
The crowd was lite this year
Over the few days that I am at CES what I will try to do is take you through the event with images and a few comments here and there. The actually show takes place over fours days with one added day on Tuesday for just the press. Trying to jam the entire show in just one day is well, crazy. You would literally have to just run though the event while taking some pictures here and there and being able to get any inside news. Some other sites are lucky enough to have whole teams that will split up the duties of covering the event, but I am just a single person so please bare with me as I try my best to bring you the finest experience I can.
On with the show…
