I’m still planning on attending CES this week, but my plans are still in a bit of flux. I might make it the second day. That’s no biggy. I used to do that all the time with Comdex back in the day. It was my way of flying cheap. I could avoid the first day crowds and sometimes get a better deal on hotels, etc. Seeing as this year is the year of watching one’s dollars, I guess it’s appropriate to think in those terms again.
However, my enthusiasm being what it is for all the cool things that will be at CES, I’m going to see if I can get there for the first day festivities. I’m still going cheap though: I plan on sharing a room with my family and if that doesn’t work whomever’s floor I can find. 🙂
(An aside: I remember one CES when we had 5 of us in one of those tiny rooms at the Vegas Motel 6. I slept on the floor then too. Yes, we did anything to save a buck. I still have that in me I guess. Good thing it looks like. I know several others that are thinking more frugally this year too–some even are Fortune 500 companies!)
Anyway, I have a basket of equipment I’m getting ready and a growing list of booths, companies, and people I’d like to visit. I’m not sure how many I can hobble to, but I am sure I’ll be at at least one place: CntrStg on Saturday for the Tablet PC Gathering. If you want to attend, please be sure to have your name added to the list by emailing Lora at WhatIsNew or sending Gottabemobile a note.
Like just about everything else, the gathering is probably going to be a little smaller than previous years, but then again that’s always what we think and the crowd keeps growing anyway. We’ll see. I’m anticipating 50 this year. Watch me be wrong! I think the last couple years, the event has grown to over 100.
However many show up, it’ll be great to meet online friends again as well as to make new ones. I always seem to meet the most interesting people at events like this. You’d be surprised how some people use Tablet PCs! I also imagine a couple companies will bring along some cool hardware, but I don’t know anything in particular. Lora knows those details. She’s unbelievable at organizing stuff like this and it’s a wonderful surprise to see what happens.
I’ll be broadcasting live via UStream as I know others will, so even if you can’t make it, be sure to join the chat or pull up the stream. I’ll post a link on Saturday.