13 Reflections from C.E.S.

So as most of you know I'm at CES for the second consecutive year. Last year I was with our Panasonic client and up to my eyeballs managing (or do my best to manage) the likes of Chris Brogan {he's such as Diva) and the less needy Steve Garfield, Ponzi Pirillo, Stacey DeBroff and Melissa Pierce. This year I'm flying solo and taking in the sights and sounds of this crazy anomaly called CES.

So last year NBC Universal had this blogging booth in the shape of a circle. On a bunch of flat screens, it would read, "Now blogging" and would include the name of someone who was hunched over a laptop presumably surfing porn. I remember thinking to myself, "what a bunch of losers/nerds/etc"

And so this year, I'm sitting under a sign that reads, "Now blogging: Joseph Jaffe".

I'm actually glad I got the chance to do some longer form blogging. It's been way too long. I also get the opportunity to sit down (finally). recharge my tired iPhone, drink my quad grande Americano that I waited in line for 40 minutes to get and hang out with the likes of Revision 3's Jim Louderback. Paidcontent's Staci Kramer and hackcollege's Kelly Sutton.

We're the cool ones.

Anyhoo, here are 10 make that 13 - reflections of my trip so far in Sin City. They're in no particular order and are not necessarily even remotely representative of the real state of affairs. Here goes:

1. The big 3 - Panasonic {a crayon client), Samsung and Sony. It almost seems like a giant battle to see who can outdo whom. Panasonic's presence is always very solid, polished and self confident. Samsung is the Apple to Panasonic's PC insofar that they're very preoccupied with visual/form. Sony was a little staggered and even disjointed. Maybe that's the point I guess.
2. So what were my takeaways from the Big 3: Panasonic was all about 3D, 3D and 3D (in that order). They've invested hugely in 3D and although the others carried 3D as well, it was in no way, shape or form even close to Panasonic's presence. Also impressive was the 154" screen. Check back over the next couple of days for a photo. Samsung's takeaway was an extension of aesthetic design and visual appeal. They definitely emphasized THIN in terms of their TV's and also put together a few layouts of multiple screens patched together to deliver enhanced gaming, trading and viewing experiences. Sony's presence to me could be summed up with the words "Tactical" and "Practical". They definitely are focusing a considerable amount of things like wireless or bluetooth sharing, uploading, editing etc and of the big 3, put the most tangible stake in the ground to capture the hearts and minds of content creators
3. Most impressive product for me was Sony's Bloggie camera. It's good enough to put the Flip cam out of business. Period. It's available today for under $200 and quite clearly was designed by content creators for content creators. Check it out.
4. Social media Fail - part 1: Very little blogger or influencer outreach to me ahead of this event and of the major players, only Sony seemed to step up in terms of their social media investment as a companion and enhancement to their on-site presence.
5. Social media Fail - part 2: Very little social media products that caught my eye. Although it appears everyone and their grandmothers dropped the words "twitter" and "Facebook" into everything they did in/on their booths
6. Pretty high agency presence. I attended Medialink's party and it was overrun with a very solid and senior leadership and management delegation from the major holding comanies. Perhaps with the exception of Omnicom. Jus' sayin'.
7. Lady GaGa rules. When in doubt, go for the celebrity. Sony turned to Taylor Swift and Monster and Polaroid turned to GaGa. Of course there were plenty more "borrowed interest" celebs designed to draw in delegates (ok, geeks) like a moth to a flame. Don't knock it...it works. I ended up literally right next door to the Diva and got some video footage, which I'll upload shortly and  embed over the next few days (check back why don't you periodically)
8. It's time to P A R T, Why? Because I GOTTA! (bonus points if you know where that's from) - ultimately CES is about networking and professional socializing. Last night I was at Medialink and then NextNewNetworks/Boxee (with Obama Girl). Tonight I'm hanging with Universal McCann, @dchurbuck and Lenovo.
9. In one word: STANDARDS or two words: STANDARDIZATION (wait, I think that's one word as well). With multiple companies all vying for the same consumer's attention and dollars in key categories, it's going to become increasingly important for companies to let go of their delusional and old-fashioned attempts of proprietary technology, closed systems and esoteric bundling (bungling?). Case in point: Sony's Bloggie has both Sony's Memory Stick slot and an SD slot. SD. USB. Good. Memory Stick. Bad. Companies that make their hardware and products interoperable will win. Period.
10. The future of consumer electronics? Yes, I think there is one. And it's certainly going to be a lot more mobile, connected, Web-enabled, democratized, etc. I'm predicting (and I'm going out on a limb here) that there will be a C.E.S. in 2011. And perhaps even 2012. Not sure I feel that same way about Twitter and Foursquare, but that's another story for another day.
11. Bonus reflection: Actually I should include LG in the big, expansive and alpha-male booth camp. So it's a big 4, not big 3. They had an incredible welcome array/arch of TV's collaged together. Not really sure what their schtick is though. The one thing is that their location - and Microsoft's for that matter - sucked. Location. Location. Location.
12. Speaking of Microsoft and cars...I feel remiss that I didn't talk about the whole auto part, but if Scott Monty had given me a tour, perhaps I'd have a bit more to reflect on. There's definitely a lot of stuff going on...I liked the quick demo from Fiat where a USB connection essentially does a Nike + (Apple/Nike) kind of assessment...helps you with gear changes, better driving, tips for fuel efficiency etc coming from logging your trips and car performance etc. On the Ford/Microsoft side, I need more info. but for the most part, I am intrigued about wi-fi and in particular, how this may help podcasting reach its tipping point.
13. Finally, if all else fails and this entire economy goes to pot, I'd recommend either going into the security business, the video conferencing business or the event business. I can only imagine how much some of these booths cost. Mega Mega $$$'s. Actually I overhead some of my bus-riding cohorts giving out awards to the booth with the most plush carpeting. Nuff said.

If you were at C.E.S., I'd love to hear your reflections and insights from the techapalooza. If you weren't, I hope you enjoyed hearing from me on my experience so far.

Now it's time to hit the tables. Wish me luck...

PS Thanks to NBC Universal for letting me blog in their inner sanctum. Check out their presence at http://nbcuatces.com