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.

JOE AND ROBERT SCOBLE	EFREN TOSCANO AND JOE

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!