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CES (consumer electronics show) in Las Vegas is one of the largest trade shows in the US. The sheer magnitude of the show makes it almost prohibitive to get things done. It’s crowded, loud and covers acres. Our clients and other businesses are there to see and be seen. Influencers are there to see everything but they don’t get the special privileges reserved for mainstream media . Getting the clients and the influencers together in this environment where there can be a meaningful exchange was our challenge.
Working with influencers Mike Temporale, Steven Hughes, Erik Hicks, and Johan van Mierlo we helped to create CNTRSTG (pronounced Centerstage). Influencers wanted a comfy, high-bandwidth place to work, connect other bloggers and meet with companies in a more intimate setting free from the chaos of the CES show floor. Previous years had seen the influencers besieged by marketers in their blog lounge. We worked with our clients and with the bloggers to create a format that would allow the influencers view a schedule of companies coming to present and arrange to be there to interact. We worked with our four influencers to ensure that all the right influencers were in attendance.
Over 200 bloggers attended the week-long event. News of the event and video, posts, photos and tweets were posted on blogs, You Tube, Digg, Friend Feed and numerous other sites. The clients who sponsored the event and other businesses who attended such as HP, Microsoft, American Airlines, Boston Power, Skooba Design, Otter box and others were excited and impressed with the results and content generated by the event. CntrStg set a new gold-standard for influencer led events.
The following are a couple of examples of what bloggers thought of CntrStg in their own words:
This year I attended CNTRSTG, an event that was founded by Mike Temporale, Steven Hughes, Erik Hicks, and Johan van Mierlo. The guys running the show all have blogging backgrounds, and they understand very well the downsides to such a huge event as CES...
The contrast between the CES meetings and the CNTRSTG events was marked. The CES floor was completely packed, the hotels hosting events were bustling, finding locations for meetings was a bit challenging, and words like noisy, hectic, confusing, and draining could all be used to describe the experience.
The CNTRSTG suite was like an oasis. They had comfortable chairs set up, food, beverages, WiFi access - everything we needed to be productive without having to leave…unless we just really wanted to. At CNTRSTG, a relatively small group of writers (no more than 100 or so at any given time) were gathered in one location so that representatives from companies including HP, Microsoft, American Airlines, HTC, AMD, Eye-Fi, and others could have casual and interactive discussions with us about their products. We could come and go as we wanted, which made it easy to attend various CES events and still get back for CNTRSTG sessions.
Unlike prior (and concurrent) socially-focused CES blogging events, CntrStg deserves a huge shout out for emphasizing tech blogger productivity. As not all bloggers are provided a double-wide trailer in the convention center promenade. Not only did the CntrStg team provide an exceptional workspace (in the Wynn) with an endless supply of food, drink, and high speed Internet, they also brought vendors directly to us (HP, Microsoft, HTC, Eye-Fi, Sling Media, etc) for briefings. As if that wasn’t enough, we probably had the most efficient transportation option in Vegas with a private shuttle at our beck and call. Take that, “mainstream” press! So, many thanks to the CntrStg organizers and sponsors for a job very well done.