CES 2012: Celebrate Discovery

The 2012 Consumer Electronics Show begins next week, much to the delight of the tens of thousands of attendees who will flock to Las Vegas to see the latest and greatest devices that have come to enrich (or dominate) our lives.

I've been fortunate to be part of this throng for years, representing clients such as Yamaha and Turtle Beach as well as driving the show media strategy for Kodak during its digital heyday. In many ways, the work my teams and I did added to the madness, highlighting various technologies and products for members of the international press corps, and in more than a few instances dominating media coverage (no small feat for an event that draws more than 1,000 reporters).

One such device was the Turtle Beach AudioTron, the first-of-its-kind networked home audio player. It was the precursor to Roku boxes, Sonos speakers, Apple TV and other dedicated devices that stream content from the Web to the living room. Holed up in a small conference room, we literally had a line out the door for three days as journalists saw the future of streaming audio... more than a decade ago.

Making room for a new home theater device today, I came across my own AudioTron (which still works flawlessly) and recalled how much buzz the product generated. Why? Because it wasn't developed by an industry giant such as Sony, but a smaller company who had taken a chance on building a better mousetrap.

So here's an inside tip from a CES veteran -- pass through the booths of the industry juggernauts, but spend more time exploring new territory. Walk a bit more slowly among the six-foot tabletop displays that upstarts have paid dearly to obtain. Ask other attendees what's excited them, especially from a conceptual point of view. Purposely seek out prototypes ahead of their time, which can be found lurking in an off-strip hotel suite doubling as a meeting venue.

In an age where there's seemingly little surprise left at major trade shows, thanks to pre-announcements and online leaks, become a hunter. When that little idea explodes onto the market a few years from now, you can claim to have been on the inside from the early days. Therein lies the true excitement of CES -- discovery.