From the moment we arrived on Wednesday at our hotel to the minute we left on Sunday, I felt like a non-person. I basically went because my 19 yr old son had made the dean’s list for the year and I had promised him that I’d take him. let me say that I attend about 130 trade shows per year. At least 10 of them have between 120-150K attendees (CES/SEMA/AAPEX/FOSE) and this is possibly the worst case of logistics I’ve ever seen. Even cross the street was a nightmare. There are two sides..make one for crossing one way and one for cross the other.

I didn’t go near H and we got there early enough that I was able to stake out a seat at one of the tables in the Sails or downstairs on the show floor at the cafe. After I was shoved by a security guard who decided to make a aisle one-way and shove everyone coming at him down a tiny row, I gave up trying to see anything.

On another note: We booked though Travel Planners and when arriving at our hotel we were told our rooms were not paid for even though we’d booked a package and could clearly bring up our reservation. The clerk at the hotel was rude and told her she’d have to bill our AMEX again until we could straighten it out. There is going to be a very strongly worded letter going out to all parties involved because really all I wanted to do is reward my son for a year of hard work on his part. he was able to get into at least 3 of the panels he wanted to and that made his experience worth it.

I too was wondering why shows like Burn Notice & White Collar had “panels” as I’ve never seen them in print.

Great take on this show.