Archive for February, 2009
So, here is our promised (but inexcusably late) recap of the party scene from our vantage point during the week of the CES last month in Las Vegas…..Again, better late than never!
The CES parties blasted off at full throttle on Thursday night, shortly after New Media Creative’s JOE KLEIN, BRETT BUMETER and party partner, Rock And Roll Geek MICHAEL BUTLER, teamed up in Sin City. First was the annual CES SHOWSTOPPERS show floor and buffet at the WYNN HOTEL, which we dropped in on for a quick go-around, and the G4TV Best Of The Best Of CES Awards Ceremony, which we did not have a chance to attend. (G4TV did air a video recap of the event, which can no longer be accessed from the G4TV sight. But the clip is archived here.)
Here are a couple of shots of SHOWSTOPPERS….. 
After ShowStoppers, we headed the few blocks up the strip to the PALAZZO HOTEL for a very nice dinner and drinks shindig thrown by the folks from IBM and LENOVO. Great food and drinks. Then it was on to the INTEL CES KICKOFF PARTY party in the Palazzo’s Sportsbook Bar and Grill. This was a pretty wild bash to be sure, co-hosted by ZAPPOS.COM, BRIAN SOLIS, SARAH LACY and FRANK GRUBER. Both events were well attended by a broad contingent of new media glitterati. Since Michael and Joe were already pretty beat from an eight-hour drive from San Francisco, it was nice that both of these parties were within walking distance in the same hotel! Still, after the Intel shindig it was time to call it a night. Two parties on the first night in Vegas, after a very long day, was more than enough! 
JOE, DAVID BERKOWITZ AND BRETT JOE AND JOHN FURRIER
Here are a few shots of the wild and crazy Intel CES kickoff bash….. 
Friday night In Vegas is always a party night in Vegas. But the Friday night of CES is always the biggest Friday night of the year, and 2009 was no exception, to be sure. There were parties and soirees everywhere, on and off The Strip. One of the cooler “new media” bashes of the evening was the “IT WON’T STAY IN VEGAS” blogapalooza at the infamous ATOMIC TESTING MUSEUM in Vegas. This very cool event was hosted by JASON PRESTON and the PARNASSUS GROUP, along with an impressive list of sponsors. Helping organize the event and creating a healthy dose of buzz was ROBERT SCOBLE (and his very sweet wife Maryam), GARY VAYNERCHUK, and a very large throng of other new and social media notables, movers and shakers.
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JOE AND ROBERT SCOBLE |
EFREN TOSCANO AND JOE |
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RICK CALVERT AND JOE |
ROBERT SCOBLE AND SARAH LANE |
LEVAR BURTON, who is now making waves as a “celebrity tweep” on the red hot social media network TWITTER was on hand for this bash and decided to take on an additional role—that of celebrity interviewer—by shooting a brief Flip-Cam video of Scoble, himself a fully established celeb in the tech and social media world and long-time “A-list” blogger.
Here is the video clip shot by Levar Burton…..
It was difficult to stay for very long at the evening’s first party, with so many others raving on this Friday night. For starters, there was a great CES party to promote the Blackberry RIM at The Palm Hotel’s great PEARL venue that featured a nice little acoustic set from recording artist JOHN MAYER.
Here is a video clip of Mayer performing “NO SUCH THING” at the event….
Another “A-list” event Friday night was the Dealer Awards Show staged by MONSTER CABLE which included a concert by DIANA ROSS at the PARIS HOTEL.
A video clip of the timeless diva performing “MY WORLD IS EMPTY WITHOUT YOU” at the show…..
As was expected, there were too many after-hours shindigs to attend, or even keep track of (with a constant flow of party info streaming on TWITTER during the entire week). Yet another hot ticket on Friday night was a huge party sponsored by INTEL along with P.C. COM at the Luxor Hotel’s LAX club. The highlight of the event was a set by the COUNTING CROWS, who were introduced by model and television personality BROOKE BURKE.
A couple of other noteworthy happenings on Friday evening included the lavish LEADERS IN TECHNOLOGY banquet at the Venetian and a more intimate and subdued affair at Planet Hollywood’s trendy PRIVE club which was sponsored by the internet telephony service SKYPE. Appropriately, Blue Skypetinis were served.
After we hit the expo floors of the CES and the AEE on Saturday, it was time to party the night away in Vegas, baby! The evening was filled with a handful of smaller, more private soirees, but the big event that dominated Saturday night was the wet and wild 26th ANNUAL AVN ADULT MOVIE AWARDS SHOW at the MANDALAY BAY hotel, and the after-party that followed at the Luxor Hotel’s hot night club LAX. Just as the Adult Expo was during the day Saturday, the awards ceremony was crammed full of adult entertainment stars, celebrities and their entourages. Click on the logo below to visit the official awards show site, which includes lists of the nominees and winners as well as a collection of photo galleries. 
The private party we attended Saturday night was itself a pretty crazy one at the rented Vegas pad of popular veteran podcasters DAWN MICELI AND DREW DOMKUS. Dawn and her songwriting partner PAUL BLANN performed some very interesting original tunes, which were every bit as “X-Rated” as any of the adult videos at the AEE! It was very cool to attend a relatively small party of old podcaster friends amidst all of the lavish sponsored tech bashes of the past ten days. D&D’s party was reminiscent of the early days of the podcasting phenomenon a few years ago. (In fact, I met New Media Creative associate Brett Bumeter at a Podshow podcasters party at the Podcast and Portable Media Expo in 2006. The alcohol flowed, the music played and the revelry went on for hours, and it was the last CES party we would attend!
Here are a few photos from Dawn and Drew’s get together during their Vegas Vacation….. 
DAWN, JOE AND MICHAEL DREW, JOE AND MICHAEL 
In our final Vegas recap post, we’ll provide a recap of the very well-attended AFFILIATE SUMMIT WEST which took place at the Rio Hotel. Coming soon!
Yes, this posting is much delayed, and for that we apologize. But, the first month of the new year was a very busy one. There was lots of catching up to do following the holidays and all the traveling during the first couple weeks of January. The inauguration and Super Bowl weekend got into the mix as well, making January a super busy month. Still, as they say, better late than never! So, here’s the next installment of our recap of the crazy new media related events we attended in January…..
While New Media Creative founder JOE KLEIN was still busy scurrying around San Francisco and partying with MICHAEL BUTLER during the first couple of days of the MACWORLD EXPO, associate BRETT BUMETER headed west from North Carolina to Las Vegas to check out the 2009 CONSUMER ELECTRONICS SHOW. All of us had set up press credentials for the CES and the other events happening in Las Vegas during CES week. Brett arrived a couple
days before the first “official” day of the huge trade show to preview the exhibit floor with other members of the press corps.
Brett also wanted to attend the SOCIAL MEDIA JUNGLE, organized by JEFF PULVER, that was going on early, to network and check out the new media mavens that were already there.
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JEFF PULVER |
ROBERT SCOBLE |
CHRIS BROGAN |
Joe and Michael traveled down, by car, to Vegas on Thursday to join in all the madness already going on in town. It was the fourth trip for Joe to Sin City since the summer. Joe and Michael checked into their hotel and joined forces with Brett at the end of the day and dove right in to the party scene Thursday night. We’ll have a separate CES PARTY POST online within the next couple of days. 
On Friday, the boys hit the sprawling LVCC exhibit floors, each with separate, albeit overlapping agendas. Joe and Michael needed press credentials, so they headed up to the CES press office with Brett, where Joe literally bumped into his friend, Las Vegas television news anchorman DAVE COURVOISER and the two decided to check out the exhibit floors together for a few hours while Brett and Michael did their own things.
Of course, everyone wanted to take in as much new technology offerings as time would allow. But Michael again wanted to some video clips for Mevio along with Mac gadget guy SAM LEVIN, who had also traveled down to Vegas from San Francisco to attend CES and meet up with several of his own consulting clients.
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MICHAEL BUTLER SHOOTING A CLIP |
JOE CONDUCTING A FOLLOW-UP |
Brett had certain technologies he wanted to check out and a few meetings scheduled at other convention halls. Then, at the massive LG Electronics booth, Joe and Dave met up with Dave’s good friend, DR. FRANK VIGGIANO, JR., a freelance consultant, television reporter and one of the only professors emeritus in the field of consumer electronics.
Brett joined in for lunch and then all four checked out a private press demo of the buzzed about new PALM PRE smart phone, which had just been unveiled at the show, in a large, catered company suite within the convention center. It was a very cool demonstration of a very cool new phone, that may offer some real competition to Apple’s iPhone when it’s released late in the spring and the device won the coveted “Best of CES” award from the CNET tech television network. Brett, for one, loved this new phone.
CHECK OUT THE CNET VIDEO OF THE PALM PRE BELOW…..
Dave and Frank then proceeded on their own while Joe and Brett also toured around the show a little more before reconnecting with Michael to head back to the hotel and prepare for the evening’s parties.
On Saturday, there were separate agendas. As Brett arrived in Vegas and checked out the CES a couple days earlier than Joe and Michael, he elected to spend most of the day attending WORDCAMP LAS VEGAS to network and pick up tips and tricks for blogging in the Wordpress environment. Brett reported that the event, organized by JOHN HAWKINS was quite well attended and that there were healthy doses of knowledge and information to be consumed. Here are a few photo highlights…..
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WORDCAMP CONFERENCE ROOM |
ORGANIZER JOHN HAWKINS |
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MATT MULLENWEG |
CHRIS BROGAN |
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LORELLE VAN FOSSEN |
WARREN WHITLOCK |
For Joe and Michael, first there was a bit more roaming of the exhibit floors at the LVCC, then a trip over to the Sands Convention Center to check out a few more CES exhibits there. Two of The Sands xhibit halls (behind what is now the Venetian Hotel) are also home to the annual ADULT ENTERTAINMENT EXPO (the name of the trade show says it all) and it’s definitely a little bizarre to see these two trade shows sharing convention center space (espcially since the AEE used to be an official part of the CES until several years ago). After a visit to the AEE press office and getting hooked up with a couple of press passes, Michael and Joe couldn’t resist turning into two “bad doggs” for a couple of hours in the midst of all the tech and new media stuff to check out product categories of a different nature at this wild trade show. The AEE culminated Saturday night with the annual Adult Entertainment Awards ceremony, which the doggs had passes to attend, but other party commitments for Saturday night took precedent.
Joe Francis (creator and CEO of the Girls Gone Wild franchise) pulled his huge company bus on to the show floor and, later, delivered an address at the event, but Joe and Michael didn’t attend this appearance. Francis recently got the attention of the press when, along with famed Hustler publisher Larry Flynt, he requested a five billion dollar bailout from the federal government “just to see us through hard times," he said, in a press release. "The $13 billion industry is in no fear of collapse, but why take chances?" Francis was also quoted as saying. His appearance at the AEE was his latest publicity ploy in a campaign to expand the GGW brand to themed restaurants and clubs.
Here are a few more juicy photos from the exhibit floor of the Adult Entertainment Expo…..
Saturday night, after another day filled with miles and miles of walking and gawking, everyone got together for yet more parties (which will be covered in our next blog post).
On Sunday, with everyone starting to show signs of wear, there was still one major event to participate in, that being AFFILIATE SUMMIT WEST conference, which took place at the Rio Hotel Convention Center. Interestingly, this event was the most positive and promising of all the week’s shows. We’ll cover our experiences at this very vibrant conference within the next few days.
Now for some pretty cool photo highlights of CES 2009…..
CONVENTION CENTER CENTRAL FOYER DURING THE CES
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SAMSUNG BOOTH |
SONY BOOTH |
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STEVE BALLMER DELIVERING |
TOM HANKS AND HOWARD STRINGER |
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HOWARD STRINGER AND REGGIE JACKSON |
USHER PERFORMING AT THE SONY DEMO |
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INTEL CEO CRAIG BARRETT AND ADAM LEVINE AT CES KEYNOTE |
CRAIG BARETT AND ADAM DURITZ AT |
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ALEX TREBECK AND CONTESTANTS |
CES CELEBRITY JEOPARDY SHOW |
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JIMMY FALLON WITH VIDEO RIG |
JIMMY FALLON AND VERONICA BELMONT |
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REVISION 3 TEKZILLA CREW IN NBC BOOTH |
JIM LOUDERBACK |
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PATRICK NORTON OF REVISION 3 |
CNET CES BROADCAST BOOTH |
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MIXED MARTIAL ARTS FIGHTERS ON THE CES EXHIBIT FLOOR |
MARK CUBAN AND UFC SUPERSTAR |
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MICHAEL BUTLER AND JOE IN FRONT OF THE CHEAP TRICK TRUCK |
JOE AND A COOL HOT ROD LINCOLN |
As usual, it’s not our intent to try and offer comprehensive coverage of this massive industry event. However, there is some great coverage and post-show wrap ups provided by REVISION 3 (in partnership with NBC Universal). Of course, there is lots more CES coverage, including videos, podcasts and photo galleries at CNET, ZDNET, the TECHCRUNCH BLOGS and ENGADGET BLOGS.
It sure was a wild and crazy couple of weeks traveling, not to mention the ten days of nonstop business and madness San Francisco and Vegas—two cities that definitely are not lacking in “action” of any and every kind!
Check back here soon. Coming next, posts about Vegas partying and networking at the AFFILATE SUMMIT WEST conference….
