CES 2006
I had a chance to attend my very first Consumer Electronics Show this year in Las Vegas. I've been to Las Vegas several times for Comdex shows. There were many similarities between the shows, but Comdex focused primarily on Information Technology (IT) products, whereas CES focuses more on Consumer Entertainment products. That makes CES a much more fun show to attend. The CES show is enormous and has floor space that could cover 70 football fields. It is not open to the general public. I understand that if you're really interested in attending the show, you can get in by creating an affiliation with a company that has ties to the Consumer Electronics industry. I saw several people who fit that category at the show, some with their kids/wives/girlfriends in tow.
Attending CES can be expensive because the demand for rooms greatly exceeds the supply during the show. Room rates go up dramatically and you have to book them months in advance. HP books hundreds of rooms and so the cost to attend the show was a willingness to do 'booth duty'. Booth duty usually involves standing for 4 to 5 hours per day at a demo booth answering all kinds of question from customers, partners, competitors, press, etc. This leaves about 3 hours per day where you can roam about the show floor and check the show out for yourself. Unfortunately, the show is spread out through a number of venues across town and it can take 45 minutes or more to get from one place to another. Even the queues for transportation can take 45 minutes or more. Also, when other partners find you're going to the show, your spare time gets booked up for private meetings. This means in reality, if you're at the show for the full 4 days, you may only have a few hours to spend roaming about. In my case, despite my best efforts, I only got about 3 hours looking around to see the show.
The last day of the show which is a Sunday, some of us had to put in a full shift because so many people had gone home. After working booth duty all day without a break we had to pack up all the equipment for shipping it back to the office. I had left the hotel at 8:00 a.m and didn't get back in until 10:30 p.m.! Some of us had worked without a lunch break. It was a grueling day and I looked forward to getting back home.
Unfortunately, when I got home, I was sick and have been out of commission for the past 5 days with a sinus infection, sore throat, and cough. After having no improvement in my condition I went to the doctor yesterday to get some antibiotics. I hope that it will fix me up because I have to travel again this week. It's the first time I've been sick in 6 years, so I must have really worn myself down at the show, and I'm sure I was exposed to lots of new germs too.
A bright spot was that Terri joined me for a few days by flying down on Allegiant Air out of Fort Collins/Loveland Airport. They have a direct flight that eliminates the hassle of going through Denver. We had a nice dinner the first night and then we saw Jay Leno the following night. So that was a nice diversion from spending all my time at the show with colleagues and industry people.
After this experience, I'm not sure if I'd be as willing to sign up should the opportunity arise again. Although it sounds like a fun time on the surface, trade shows can be a draining experience. I met someone who was visiting the show for his 12th year in a row, all on his own time and cost. I thought that sounded like a much better way to see things and enjoy oneself, especially if you're an electronics enthusiast. He told me that even spending all 4 days at the show, it was still difficult to see everything.
Attending CES can be expensive because the demand for rooms greatly exceeds the supply during the show. Room rates go up dramatically and you have to book them months in advance. HP books hundreds of rooms and so the cost to attend the show was a willingness to do 'booth duty'. Booth duty usually involves standing for 4 to 5 hours per day at a demo booth answering all kinds of question from customers, partners, competitors, press, etc. This leaves about 3 hours per day where you can roam about the show floor and check the show out for yourself. Unfortunately, the show is spread out through a number of venues across town and it can take 45 minutes or more to get from one place to another. Even the queues for transportation can take 45 minutes or more. Also, when other partners find you're going to the show, your spare time gets booked up for private meetings. This means in reality, if you're at the show for the full 4 days, you may only have a few hours to spend roaming about. In my case, despite my best efforts, I only got about 3 hours looking around to see the show.
The last day of the show which is a Sunday, some of us had to put in a full shift because so many people had gone home. After working booth duty all day without a break we had to pack up all the equipment for shipping it back to the office. I had left the hotel at 8:00 a.m and didn't get back in until 10:30 p.m.! Some of us had worked without a lunch break. It was a grueling day and I looked forward to getting back home.
Unfortunately, when I got home, I was sick and have been out of commission for the past 5 days with a sinus infection, sore throat, and cough. After having no improvement in my condition I went to the doctor yesterday to get some antibiotics. I hope that it will fix me up because I have to travel again this week. It's the first time I've been sick in 6 years, so I must have really worn myself down at the show, and I'm sure I was exposed to lots of new germs too.
A bright spot was that Terri joined me for a few days by flying down on Allegiant Air out of Fort Collins/Loveland Airport. They have a direct flight that eliminates the hassle of going through Denver. We had a nice dinner the first night and then we saw Jay Leno the following night. So that was a nice diversion from spending all my time at the show with colleagues and industry people.
After this experience, I'm not sure if I'd be as willing to sign up should the opportunity arise again. Although it sounds like a fun time on the surface, trade shows can be a draining experience. I met someone who was visiting the show for his 12th year in a row, all on his own time and cost. I thought that sounded like a much better way to see things and enjoy oneself, especially if you're an electronics enthusiast. He told me that even spending all 4 days at the show, it was still difficult to see everything.
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