The Biggest Show in Vegas

It's press day at the 2010 Consumer Electronics Show, the largest tradeshow in the world for consumer technology. I’m crouched down in a busy aisle, squeezed between the legs of other reporters clamoring for a seat and with my newly acquired messenger bag hitting the row of chairs beside me. This is my first press conference, and I actually have a badge to prove that I belong. “Press?” Yep, that’s me. And I feel it, too.

The rush of walking into a room lined with cameras and journalists is a moment I know is fleeting. But as a 23-year-old assistant editor sent off to cover her first major tradeshow, it’s a significant one. It’s the first time I really feel something that is inherent in publishing—we are messengers to our readers. Whether it’s a thought, an event or, in this case, the products they’ll be seeing in stores after the show is over, we’re the ones who’ll let them know. And it feels pretty exciting.

Walking around the formidable Las Vegas Convention Center on the first official day of the show is a bit like the famous Vegas strip that I’ve experienced for the first time just the night before. Every casino has a little something different. In the Convention Center, every booth has a little something new. Decadent cell phone accessories made with Swarovski crystals, massive television sets that turn regular movies and TV shows into a 3D experience (in real time!), a flying interactive gaming device . . .  wow! I can barely take it all in. What gadgets should I make a note of? Which vendors should I talk to? At first, I admit, it was a bit overwhelming. But by afternoon, I’m familiar with the location and easily making my way through the crowd. My notebook is quickly filling up with names and products, and my collection of press kits and business cards is growing by the minute.

I find myself lusting over a few items including WeSC’s always-fun headphones, the palm-sized Pico Projectors from Optoma, PURE’s super-sleek internet radios, the Panasonic lithium-ion battery that can power your entire home for one week and Samsung’s 9000 series LED TVs, which gadget blog Gizmodo refers to as "pornographically thin." (They easily have my favorite display of the show with their seemingly winding walls of LED screens.) Personally, it’s the little things that I take note of—the cameras, the cool headphones, the music players. This is the stuff I can actually see myself buying. While the massive home entertainment systems and technologically savvy cars are impressive, I know they won’t make their way into my day-to-day life (or that of most people my age) anytime soon, but they do offer an interesting glimpse into possibilities for the future.

After an entire day spent looking at all the latest in cutting-edge electronics and talking to people from around the world, my feet are exhausted—but my notebook is full.

Posted By: Jennifer Sanchez