CES the j5create Way (and the value of Unveiled)

by John Hardin

Last week I had the chance to dust off the fancy clothes in my closet and head out to the glorious Riviera Hotel in Las Vegas. Oh, and while I was there, they let me attend this little show called the 2012 International Consumer Electronics Show (CES). 

Let me back up a little bit. Wonacott client j5create, which makes a line of PC and Mac cross-platform transfer and KM switches (technospeak for “awesome”), was debuting new products for their sophomore year at CES, and needed some help managing press appointments. Luckily I was the chosen one to help j5create navigate the crowds at the show, and after months of preparation, I found myself in Las Vegas last Saturday...

A buffet dinner and buffet breakfast later, we were ready for the very first press event of the week, CES Unveiled at the Venetian. CES Unveiled is reserved for the honorees of the Innovations in Design and Engineering Awards (IDEA…har de har har, CES) of which j5create was a recipient (see the earlier note about them being awesome.) It was an intimate affair, complete with colored CES ice sculpture, cocktails and an open bar. In the PR world, the first lesson they teach you is that an open bar to a journalist is like an open flame to a moth, so I knew that the event was bound to get crowded. I just wasn’t prepared for HOW crowded.

We were set up on a non-descript table with a few computers running product demos. Parrott, the creator of the fun but noisy AR Drone, was set up next to the right of our table, with the bar to the left. In other words, the perfect position. I stepped outside the ballroom to grab some water and snacks for j5create, and was flabbergasted by the line of journalists waiting to get in. Basically, it was a crowd comparable to one you might find at the opening night for a Star Wars movie. After the event started, it was just as incredible. There was barely enough room to move with all the journalists in the room, and every table was swamped trying to show off the latest and greatest wares from the tech world.

As a seasoned video games PR professional with 4 E3s, 3 GDCs, 2 PAXes and a Comic-Con (in a pear tree!) under my belt, I was pleasantly surprised at how well the Unveiled format worked – it might even be the most effective tradeshow presentation style I’ve ever seen. There is limited time, so the demos had to be succinct. The press was shuffling through at an astounding pace, so there was no time for BS, it was just straight and to the point. Information was exchanged, product was sent out and articles got written. It was glorious.

The other great thing about Unveiled was that it set the pace for the rest of CES. When the show floor opened, there was an onslaught of press, buyers, engineers and other industry pros flooding the j5create booth, trying to figure out the product’s cross-platform magic. Having already been through the melee that was Unveiled, those of us staffing the booth were a well oiled machine.

By the time I had to leave, I barely had the chance to venture beyond the confines of the booth tucked away in the South Hall. I love cars, so I was absolutely gutted that I didn’t get to see the hi-tech wizardry of Audi, Tesla and the other car manufacturers, though I did get a glimpse of the highly coveted Subieyota.

I also missed out on playing around with the new ultra-thin laptops and hyper-fast smartphones that were all the talk of the show. However, I did notice two trends that were quite pervasive: a seemingly endless supply of manufacturers of custom USB drives, and headphone manufacturers with rapper endorsements. I mean honestly, we’re at the point where they gave Snooki from Jersey Shore her own headset. I heard she actually made an appearance as well, but thankfully by that time I was already back safe and sound in the confines of Los Angeles. Until next year, CES! And all the wonders you will bring!

back