CES or Bust(ed)

Well, that’s enough planning, I fly out tomorrow morning.  For anyone who’d like to try to meet up who I wasn’t able to contact in person, here is my rough schedule, which is obviously subject to change!  You’ll notice I’ve left a lot of ‘tbd’ time toward the end of the show, in anticipation of being thrown off track within 3 hours of arrival (although I do have plans for those times, I am not sure it’s all going to go as planned).

1.6.7
Morning/early pm: Fly in, go to hotel, check in, discover room isn’t ready yet, complain, sulk, pout, have overpriced lunch, bump into someone I know, exchange numbers, return to hotel lobby, get room key, arrive in room, discover room is actually a smoking room, complain further, get new room that seems great until 2am when I learn it’s next to “the party room”.

Late afternoon/evening: Go to CES Unveiled, see cool stuff, take pics and blog about it, go for dinner with some colleagues, chat about what we think is coming at Macworld since we all suspect CES won’t have too many revolutionary gadgets this year, have a few drinks, play a little Blackjack, wander over to the Bellagio only to find out the Bloghaus opens Sunday, return sheepishly to my room.

1.7.7
Daytime: Attend a variety of press conferences, attempt to get into the Billy G keynote, stop by the Bloghaus for real (saying hi to Robert, Dave, Tom, and Gabe -all of whom I hope remember to stop blogging and enjoy the show for a few hours, right guys?).  Enjoy last few minutes of non-artificial daylight before Thursday.

Evening/night: Dinner, attend a couple of parties, blog a little, but mostly spend time with some industry folks as we ponder what is the best place to hang out and inevitably go somewhere that was cool a few years ago and long past its prime today, cuz that’s how we roll.

1.8.7
Daytime: Spending the day at the South and Central Halls, maybe some North Hall time, but doubtful.  I’ve considered swapping my schedule to do the Sands on the first day, since it’ll be much calmer, but I haven’t gotten to take in that CES Day 1 energy in a long time, so I’ll probably brave the crowds.

Evening: Go to the Showstoppers media event (always a favorite), drop by a couple of parties, eventually eat something, then play Blackjack with drunk consumer electronics people a little too late into the night, topped off with a cigar that I taste long through the end of the next day.

1.9.7
Daytime: North Hall and see anything I forgot to see in South/Central.  Also, there are some sessions I’d like to check out.

Evening: tbd, but most likely very similar to the previous night, just at different venues.

1.10.7
Sands Expo, the rest is tbd

1.11.7
Tbd, then go home.  Finally get some sleep on plane.

That’s the plan – there is a lot going on this year, really excited to check it out.  I will hopefully have mobile email, but may be stuck with cell/SMS for the trip.  Ugh. 

By the way, just for kicks I put a schedule together that only reflects Press Events, Keynotes, and Company Parties, just to see what it looks like (I’ve grayed things out since some are private).  Now pretend you also have to schedule a lot of meetings with individuals during the same time!

I’ll blog from the show, but for “non-stop action” I’d probably recommend heading off to Engadget!