CES 2005 Diary: Day 1 - Arrival

I arrived in Vegas late Wednesday evening and was none too thrilled to find out it was a lot colder than I expected. The flight was packed, stuffy, and no doubt full of people headed to the big Consumer Electronics Show taking place this weekend. Oversold as usual, I crammed into the middle seat between two gentlemen who thankfully had bladders the size of watermelons and did not wear any cologne. I sat down and began to rifle through all my CES previews and press releases that I had received earlier in the week. If you've never been to CES, it's quite a spectacle. The "gawk" factor is off the charts with an oversaturation of color, sound and energy everywhere. Even if you don't understand any of the technology behind the items on display, it is still mind-blowing to view things as a casual observer. By all accounts, this year's CES would be the biggest one yet as the disappearance of the computer-centric Comdex show made for a bigger presence of PC manufacturers at CES.

After the shuttle bus dropped me off at my hotel, I strolled in and waited in line at the check-in desk. I was still shivering from outdoor chill and trying to come down to earth after being in flying metal coffin for five hours (by the way, the hallucinatory madness of any big hotel/casino adds a surreal if not disorienting sensation to anyone that is not well rested or fed.) It's no wonder I can recall every trip I've taken to Vegas as fuzzily as a dream. Anyhow, the check-in line was where I met the first of what would be a long line of (dare I say it) typical CES attendees that have infested Vegas for the big show. It's a sure thing that at any bar, restaurant or elevator you are in, you are sharing that space with someone who is in town for the Consumer Electronics Show.

Enter CES character #1:

Satin-jacket-with-Fender-guitar-logo-in-red-thread-guy. A common breed, although this one was adorned with swept back blonde hair that resembled a helmet (or the plastic hairpiece you put on Lego toys.) I asked him if he was here for CES, which in retrospect was probably a question I could have answered myself. "Sure am," he replied. He did his best to be as vague as possible when I asked him what line of work he was in. Looking at me with a grin, he said confidently, "Importing" - as if the nature of his work demanded the utmost of secrecy. I'm not sure if he felt his confident ambiguity was inspiring curious awe in me, but it definitely wasn't. Unfortunatley, wondering whether or not Satin-jacket guy was a hitman or a mysterious millionaire poker player was not going to be on the menu of bedtime thoughts tonight. I'd express my surprise at his not reciprocating the question to me, but that was understandable. Someone with such mysterious and nefarious job such as "Importing" cannot be bothered with such excesses as common courtesy.

Thankfully, an audible "next" from the desk clerk put me out of my awkward misery and I went to the counter to get my plastic card swipe room key. Only when I began to lug my three bags away to the elevator did he volunteer a question. He wanted to know what I was in town for, I told him I was with Audioholics.com doing a bit of hunting and gathering for the website. "Pretty much just some freelance writing," I added. He paused for a second, nodding his head as a time killer while he dug for something to say. "Audioholics huh...? Pfff… that's a funny name. I got myself a Bose. That thing plays loooooud." I knew it was going to be a long weekend.

Toby Dalsgaard, a resident of South FL, is a freelance writer for Audioholics and has worked 8 years as a sound designer and mixer for Soundelux, HBO, Cinemax, Fox Kids, and The Disney Channel among others.