ces…still relevant today?

now that the dust has settled and i’ve had some time to ruminate on my experience of attending ces, i’m still wondering whether or not the whole thing is still relevant in this day and age.

there’s some inherent irony behind a technology-focused event being put on in an old-fashioned, 1950’s tradeshow kind of way.  granted, many of the booths attempted to dazzle and amaze the in-person observer, but i found myself being more impressed by what i was reading about the show on the internet than what i was actually seeing in person.

which leads me to think that the most important ces attendee is the press who can get the word out…otherwise it seems like the biggest draw of attending ces is being able to conveniently schedule face-to-face meetings with clients/vendors etc.  

but as far as brand experiences go, very few delivered something that i felt like talking about later on.  after coming home and being asked by my friends/family how the show was, i found myself wracking my brain to come up with something relatively “exciting” to tell them…ummm…i saw the guy who created csi speaking on a panel…also apparently innovation is important…and did i mention youtube is pretty popular?

otherwise for the most part (there were a few standouts), i felt like i was walking through a giant best buy.

now with microsoft pulling out – what does the future hold for ces?

what do you think?  am i being unfair or too cynical?