Jigantus.com

I just got back from the CES 2009 show after spending 3 solid days there. The first thing that comes to mind is that it was exhausting! There were over 2700 exhibitors spread out over the size of over 20 football fields in multiple locations.

On top of that, there were no seats for people to sit down and rest. We had to eat our lunch on the floor along side everyone else. In most cases, vendors that we wanted to meet were not grouped by category and were scattered between buildings. Dependent I suppose on how much they were willing to pay for the floor space. So being my first time there, I wanted to see as much as I could so that meant walking, walking and more walking.

The show however was well organized. With frequent shuttles, plenty of staff and security on hand, it was impressive how they managed to move almost 150,000 people from point to point.

Aside from the “exhausting” factor, the CES show is a place where companies can display new technologies, unviel new product launches and to connect with people. From people I talked to, this years show was more subdued, with about 65% of usual attendance and scaled back displays from many vendors due to the economic downturn.

For me, the purpose was to look for new product lines to promote on the web that are complimentary to small and medium sized business needs. As this was a consumer oriented show, I would say it wasn’t hitting the nail exactly on the head but I did find some good leads and met some important contacts

From my perspective, consumer hardware products are evolving to converge with the web. Mobile applications, security systems, gaming, audio video are becoming more connecting the world then ever before. It will come to a point where every movement you make, every photo, video, sound, pulse you leave behind becomes a data point to be crunched, sorted and used to decipher some intelligent way to use to market.

We’re not quite there yet, as all the pieces are not yet aligned. In some ways it will make our lives easier, more efficient but with less peace and privacy.

Businesses that can position themselves to utilize data to make peoples lives easier will have a chance to have a huge impact in the future. Our plan at Jigantus has always been to do just that.

I’ll be heading to the CES show this week. It will be my first time there so I am looking forward to it. I have spoken to some people who have attended and it sounds daunting. I have been to Las Vegas before and it is a massive place.

In leading up to the show, I definitely notice the difference in attendance. I almost went last year and noticed the hotel rooms are sometimes going for less then half of what they had in the past. Also, incentive offers are abundant as well as cheaper and more available flights.

This does appear to be the year where only the core people are going, which looks like the theme of 2009. Only things that need to be done, will be done in a no frills kind of way. We will be no different.

It will be key to identify future trends, when scouting products, I will have to choose wisely so energy in 2009 will be spent marketing products that people want, where we can make money on with less service and hassle.

I’ll let you now how it goes.