My CES Social Media Posse — Leap in Interest

Last year at CES 2007, I remember seeing a huge surge in the number young people with digital video cameras visiting the Intel booth. I typically work with local, national and international broadcasters, so I took every opportunity to try and meet this new crop of video bloggers.

This year at CES 2008, I saw two times more people walking around video taping our booth, learning about the latest technologies from Intel experts. I even brought my Sony HDV cam and shot several interviews and the Intel keynote — here’s an Intel blog post I shot and wrote featuring a few short clips of Smash Mouth on Stage with Intel CEO Paul Otellini. As did my “double down” pal Nick Knupfer.

What I love most every year — this was my seventh CES in Las Vegas — is getting to see so many of my media friends, coworkers and even college buddies (ran into one of my best Chico buddies at the Intel keynote). This year took things into a new stratosphere because I got to connect and work alongside fellow social media enthusiasts and see my Intel pals like Bryan Rhoads really have fun with more resources devoted to social media. Today’s (somewhat) more organized efforts spouted from organic energy a few years ago, and now I see the social media posse swelling with new talent. We’ll making new inroads, new friends and better relationships along the way. This is great, because I believe that we ought to encourage any Intel employee to participate with social media in a smart, fun way. The more people we have out there, the more connected and meaningful Intel will be to people’s lives. More relevance and more able to respond to what’s happening today and any changes we need to make in order to make a positive impact in the world. If we keep at this pace, I (and many of my coworkers) believe we can help move up into the top ten most recognized brands using social media.

Here’s some of the social media posse action from my visit to CES 2008:

Everyone’s favorite “Tell Me How It Works” guru and my Chico WildCat buddy Ralph Bond and I visited PodTech’s BlogHaus the evening after Bill Gates’ keynote. At that point, he thought my soft brown Italian jacket was the most talked about thing at CES.

We got to hang out with PodTech’s wonderful interviewer and photographer Michael Johnson:

There’s never a dull moment because even standing in long taxi lines allowed time for mindflow sessions with geniuses like Rohit Bhargava.

Hotel hopping with John Furrier — who helped me dive fast and deep into Podcasting in 2005:

And seeing Brian Giesen’s bright smile and energy at breakfast is enough to give anyone a jolt — let’s hit the show!

Intel got to sponsor this year’s killer blogger bash “It Won’t Stay in Vegas.” Intel gave away a free ride on the Zero G plane, a cool promotion to celebrate everyone reaching new heights in mobility. Even Doc Searls took the flight as did other top bloggers (Andru Edwards from GearLive) and tech industry shakers. Here is a video from Tom Foremski, whos shows the social media posse he ran with at CES 2008 (rebloged here).

In the Tom’s video above there’s has a blip from the bus ride where a guy shows off an MID — see the video I shot on MIDs from the Intel booth.

And it’s great to see the action from the PodTech BlogHaus.

I flew back to the Bay Area on the new Virgin America — what a great flight! Cool new painted planes, sweet back seat touch screen entertainment with music videos, live TV and other cool things. Got a few drink and really enjoyed the spirited, lovely people working for the new airline. As I entered the plane, I got to congratulate Robert Scoble holding his cheerful newborn baby. That’s what life’s all about!

One person I most missed this year compared with last year?  Jeremiah Owyang, one of the best social media posse pioneers who has helped me make so many connections and is helping so many others nowadays playing in the big leagues at Forrester Research.