CES 2011 Sears Blue Blogger Crew Day Three Recap

One mega to-do list. What to check off? Maybe as important, what to leave off? Watch 20,000 product launches. Catch celebrity appearances like Lady Gaga and 50 cent. Trek through 1.4 million square feet of exhibits.  And watch skydivers jump off the Stratosphere as I’m doing while I write this post. Sessions, appliances and tweetups made my third day as a member of Sears Blue Blogger Crew. What’s your top goal when you attend a conference?

It’s understandable if “attending conference sessions” falls off the average CES attendee’s experience priority list. After all, most people are here to wander around. And, some sessions are expensive.

Blogger Badge = Express Pass

When I found out my blogger badge would get me into all of them – for free – that was an extra incentive to settle in and soak up information. I knew my followers, not to mention my feet, would thank me. So how many sessions did I attend? Two.

I planned to spend the entire morning perched in the Tweet House. After transferring to my second hotel and getting over to the Las Vegas World Trade Center, formerly known as the Las Vegas Convention Center, via the monorail and a long walk, I got there in time to attend two sessions.

Check out social media and twitter tools from the Tweet House.

Ducking out of The Tweet House, I headed out for one last meet up with the Sears Blue Blogger Crew. Larry Costello, director of public relations for Sears Holdings Corp., walked me over to the 2011 CES Kenmore booth.

Read more about my 2011 CES Kenmore tour in this post about cooking with connectivity.

Kenmore Elite is known for designing innovative, full-featured appliances. An award-winner, their new dishwasher is the first ever to integrate touch screen controls.

After learning about the latest in appliances, I spotted the New York Times booth.

I have the iPhone app and subscribe the the New York Times alerts.

Now I’m also a web-based subscriber. I like the interface, but at $19.95 per month, it’s a bit pricey. The sales rep told me you can add up to five users on your profile, though.

Seeing Chris Brogan speak was on my list, but I didn’t have the exact time and place.

How fortuitous to walk right by during his presentation. Chris says the first step small business owners should take in 2011 is to listen, then fix distribution. Good advice from the man in a very fashionable suit.

Delta sponsored the 2011 CES tweetup.

Arriving 20 minutes early, I grabbed a table. It’s always interesting to see who decides to join you. A half an hour later, I was sitting with five new friends.

Jumping back on The Tweet House track, I waited an hour for a cab to go to attend their tweetup at The Atomic Testing Museum.

Tipping on Twitter

When I said I liked Las Vegs cab drivers, ours asked if I would mention him on twitter. When I showed him my tweet, it made his night. How fun!

Wandering away from the party crowd, I took a tour of the museum. Only one exhibit allowed photography. So I took a picture of a steel beam from the World Trade Center. What a sobering moment for reflection and remembrance.

One of my initial concerns about going to this party was being able to get a ride back. I happened upon two other guests going to the Venetian. One gave me a Star Trek pizza cutter. Now, I have something to bring home that we can use.

Thanks to Lenovo for holding a second Social Media Club tweetup event.

Although I didn’t get to meet Danica Patrick in person, I did get to chat with Chris Heuer and Kristie Wells, Social Media Club’s founders.

Follow up parties seem to be a trend here. If sponsors like the list, they invite people back. Think about that for a minute. How cool to gather and regather the same cool crowd.  After three days of absorbing information, it took all day Saturday to turn it into posts, videos and a 2011 CES photo album.

Wired PR Works CES 2011 coverage is brought to you by Sears Electronics. As a member of Sears Blue Blogger Crew, Sears Electronics covered my flight, hotel and incidental expenses. Each crew member also received a Sony Bloggie video camera.