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I get home from Las Vegas and looky here, my son is a man. I have been gone so long he is shaving now. haha!

Forget the cool gadgets, the long ass lines, the crowd, and the other stuff associated with a trade show. The most memorable and one of the most enjoyable parts of a show is the people you meet at them! My trip was hectic and I learned a couple things to do better next time.

• Take more pictures
• Get there earlier and don’t limit yourself to two days (I have a full time job, so time is an issue, but I will make more time next year!)
• CES is not CTIA, you can’t see it all in one day on the floor
• Book hotel closer to action. (spent over $150 in cab fares not to mention lost 3-4 hours of time)

So, at the last minute, I decided to go to CES 2006 for the 1st time. Thinking I was cool with time basing on 5+ CTIA Wireless shows I’ve attended, I thought 2 days would be plenty of time. Wrong. I got up at 5am Thursday Jan 5th, 2006 and drove to the airport. I get there and the line for security at 6am was longer than i’ve ever seen. Apparently the gate was closed and when they tried to open it, the ripped the ceiling down. This almost caused me to miss my 7:30am flight.

Line at airport

Fast foward : I get on the plane and change planes in Ohio and on to Vegas. I get to Las Vegas at 11am and grab my bags. I go out to catch a cab and to my surprise, another line. This line was 4 deep up and down the sidewalk. After a good hour or so in this line, I get a cab and after looking at my watch decided it was probaly best to go strait to the show so I would not miss my 1st appointment at 2pm…..

I show up at the Las Vegas Convention Center and was in awe at the amount of people walking up and down the sidewalks. I step out of the cab with my bag and laptop bag and proceed to walk a good quarter of a mile to the front of the convention hall to check in to the press room. Its 1:30pm now and I have my press badge and 2 bags (heavy bag too), luckily there was a bag check at the next hallway. I check my big bag in and run across the street to meet John Starkweather from Microsoft.

Meeting with Microsoft with a bunch of goodies to play with.

After this meeting, I trek back to the bag check and get my luggage and get into yet another cab line. Another 30 minutes waiting on a cab and 30 minutes in the cab due to traffic, I arrive at the Rio to check in. I realize as I am checking in that I missed an appointment with Joe Kee of BuyGPSnow.com. So, I get all checked in and freshen up for the rest of the day.

The Rio from the Cab

Beautiful Room with a view

I catch a cab to Mandalay Bay for a Vista Community Event put on by hive.net. I met up with some new folks and some familiar faces there.

Folks gathering around socializing

A little Xbox 360 Action

Right to Left, Dan Turner (Firingsquad.com), Steven Hugh (BostonPocketPC.com), and Mauricio Freitas (Geekzone).

I left early to try a meeting with Joe Kee again. I went upstairs and waited in the lobby for his call.

On way to Casino to wait, I ran into Rich Brohme and Eric Lin from Phonescoop.com, both fellow Mobians!

After a couple phone calls back and forth, the Joe Kee meeting was not gonna happen again. As I am sitting in the casino having a chat with a fellow MVP, Trevor Claiborne, a group of friends on the way to the MTV/Microsoft Party walked by and invited me to join them. I was going that way soon anyhow, so we piled into a cab and met a long line waiting to check out this big exclusive party.

The Killers live at the MTV/Microsoft Party

After we decided to leave the party a couple of us headed out towards our hotels, Mr. Fitness, Mauricio decided we could walk to his and Jason Dunn’s hotel and I would take a cab from there. So we agree and to my feet’s dislike, I roughed it.

Jason Dunn and Mauricio Freitas in front of a pretty fountain.

The water show in front of the Bellagio

We finally arrive at their hotel and decide to grab some McDonalds before turning in. We eat, I grab a cab and off to the Rio. I have a problem walking through a casino without spending a buck or two. 2am comes and I hit my room, get ready for the next day and time to sleep.

8am, the phone rings, Wake up call… Shower and gather belongings to check out. I grab some breakfast at the hotel and head over to the convention center to power walk the floor. I arrive at the show at 10am and proceed to have a ball!

After about an hour or so, I get a call from Joe Kee, we meet at last!

Joe Kee, BuyGPSnow.com

After of walking and learning about new products for a bit, Its time to go for a nice exclusive showing of Windows Vista normally reserved for CEOs and other VIPs. About 30 of us were shown some of the nice features of this new OS to come. We had some great demos of the new Windows Media Player 11 as well as some Photo and TV features.

On the way to the Vista Presentation with Mauricio and Steven Hughs

After this presentation, It was off to lunch. Then back to the floor. Another few hours of walking, talking, and gawking, It was now 5pm and almost time for an Microsoft MVP mixer that Andrew Brown put on.

At this gathering, I ran into the normal suspects. Andrew Brown, Steven Hughs, Mauricio Freitas, etc… Also at this party were Diane Dumas and Jack Cook, Microsoft MVPs and one of the newest MVPs, Dave Ciccone.

Dave Ciccone, Andrew Brown, Diane Dumas, and Jack Cook.

About 8pm, the party was over and it was time to make my way to the airport to get home. I stand in another 30 minute cab line and catch a cab. I get in, head back to the Rio to get my bags and off to the airport. I check in and then meet up with Jason Dunn for a little last minute chit chat and onto the plane I go. That’s all I remember…. What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas!

Chris Leckness (3531 Posts) - Website | Twitter | Facebook

Chris Leckness is the Owner/Administrator of Mobilitysite. He is a Microsoft MVP, Mobile Devices and a member of the exclusive focus group, Mobius. Chris runs a Mobilitysite, GotZune, and a few other smaller sites and blogs. His personal blog is chris.leckness.com.