This past weekend I made my way out to Philly to check out one of the largest LAN parties on the east coast, theGXL. I have been going to LAN parties for quite some time, but for the past few years I really have not gamed that much therefor I did not attend many LAN…
How to Start a Tech Site Webinar
I get this question all of the time, “How can I do what you do?”. That question is not always the easiest thing to answer. This Thursday I will be partnering with John Chow, Stephen Fung and Gary Ng to explain how you can start a tech / review blog or site. Many people think…
Checking out Refresh Pittsburgh
Refresh Pittsburgh is a is a community of designers and developers working to refresh the creative, technical, and professional culture of Internet designers and developers in Pittsburgh and the surrounding areas. I had actually never heard of Refresh Pittsburgh before my friend Kelly mentioned it to me. I’m always down to check out new tech…
Super Bowl Ads 2011
Well if you didn’t know already the Steelers lost in this year’s super bowl by a score of 31 to 25. It was a good game for sure and great to see Pittsburgh in it, but like most people I watch the Super Bowl for the commercials. With an average US audience of 111 million…
The CES 2011 Parties
One of the best things about going to CES is the parties. Many companies throw parties to bring people together to promote their brand, but also to have fun. CES parties are a great way to network and meet new people because it is not often that you will be in the same room with…
The CES 2011 Swag Haul
Each year at CES I am bombarded with a ton of swag, things companies give out to you when you visit their booth or meet with them. This year was no different, I came home with a ton of extra things I did not come to Vegas with. First let’s talk about the CES press…
My CES 2011 Experience
Well CES 2011 has come and gone and this year was a lot of fun! If you want to see all of the coverage check out this page over at ThinkComputers. CES is always a great way to start out the year. If you don’t know what CES is, it is the Consumer Electronics Show….
The Clique Vodka Launch Party
Clique Vodka was recently released and it was actually started by a group of people here in Pittsburgh! A few of these guys actually happen to be friends of mine so they invited me to the launch party for the Vodka. The party was hosted at the PPG Aquarium, which was actually a very cool…
A Fun Memorial Day Weekend
This past weekend was Memorial Day and for most people it is a long weekend. Since I work from home it really was not a long weekend for me, but I did enjoy my weekend. As I said in an earlier in a post I have been getting out more and this past weekend was…
SUSHISAMBA at the Palazzo
When you think of Las Vegas you think huge casinos and gambling, but Las Vegas has some of the best restaurants in the county. Hell even some of the buffets are really good! I’ve had some of the best meals of my life in Vegas. The Rodizio Fire Pit at Rum Jungle was awesome, my monstrous shrimp cocktail and 22oz porterhouse at Envy Steakhouse was just great and the 5-course meal I had Zeffirino was simply amazing. Oncec again this year in Las Vegas I had one of the best meals of my life, definitely the best sushi of my life!
Super Bowl Ads 2010
I’m not a huge football fan, especially when the Steelers are not playing, but I did watch the Super Bowl this year. The Reason? The ads of course! Before we get into that congrats to the Saints for pulling out the 31-17 victory over the Colts, the onside kick to start the 2nd half was brilliant. According to the Super Bowl XLIV Wikipedia page the broadcast had a US audience of 106.5 million viewers and scored a Nielsen rating of 46.4 with a 68 share, the highest for a Super Bowl since Super Bowl XX in 1986.
Is CES Slowly Going Away?
I myself have been going to CES for 5 years now. For ThinkComputers it is really the highlight of the entire year, we really don’t attend any other trade shows. We get to see the latest technology, new products and catch up with old friends, not to mention getting to spend a week in Vegas. Something really stood out to me this year during CES…it was very small! Also this year CEA (the company that runs CES) tried to kick out many exhibitors who opted to use hotel rooms instead of paying for a booth.
Lenovo’s Blogger Nights
Another really cool event I was able to attend during CES this year was Lenovo’s Blogger Nights. This was a 3 day event hosted at AquaKnox at the Venetian. The entire event was hosted by Lenovo, but each night was co-hosted by someone else. Wednesday night was co-hosted by social media club, Thursday Night was co-hosted by Social Media Jungle and Friday night was co-hosted by GDGT. Because CES was so crazy we were only able to make it on the last night, which was Friday.
The 2010 PC Race For Charity
The PC Race is one of the best events to attend during CES. Not only is it for a good cause, but you really get to network with a lot of people and hell it has the best food! Also it’s probably the only place you will be able to find most of the tech media all in one place! So the way this event works is that 30 contestants all tech media see who can build a computer the quickest with the winner getting $10,000 towards the charity of their choice. Second and third place also get cash prizes for charity and everyone’s computer that gets built does get donated to their charity so it is a win-win!
The CES 2010 Swag
One thing that is great about going to conferences is all the free swag you get. Since I go to these events as media many companies have made up gift bags especially for media members. Another thing that I’ve also noticed is that the more established your site is the better swag you get! This year I really didn’t want to pick up that much swag mainly because I never really use half of it and it is a pain to pack in my suitcase, but I did get quite a few useful things this year.