Big Splash by Best Buy at 2010 CES

January 13, 2010 | by Rob Weber Comments

Event Guest

I made the trek out to Las Vegas for the 2010 Annual CES conference with fellow Minnesota tech entrepreneurs including Aaron Weber of Open Preferences , Joel Dahlin of Dahlin Development and Scott Wright of Draft Countdown. My objective at CES was to build relationships with consumer application marketing partners for W3i, and to cover Minnesota companies for TECHdotMN. While we were all on the lookout for fellow Minnesota tech entrepreneurs, the only noticeable MN tech presence that we collectively observed was the huge splash that Best Buy made.

Best Buy exhibited for the first time ever at CES 2010 and they nailed it.

Ford CEO Alan Mulally highlighted Ford’s promotional and customer service partnership with Best Buy and Geeksquad during his keynote address (6 minutes in). Congratulations to Geek Squad founder Robert Stephens for the big plug. Best Buy’s Mike Vitelli, VP of Consumer Electronics, participated in the annual Retail Roundtable event. Best Buy also took home the Digital Entertainment Group, DEG, annual award for retailer of the year.

In years past, we never noticed much of a presence by Best Buy at CES whereas this year we witnessed countless Best Buy blue shirts walking around at various exhibits. In addition, Best Buy sponsored a huge bus which was loaded up with cell phone chargers for all attendees who needed a recharge.

Do you have a 2010 CES story or comment on some of the news coverage? Tell your story in the comments.

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Rob Weber

  • Best Buy on CES 2010: http://bestbuyon.com/
  • I know ESPN is planning to launchtheir new 3D channel for the start of the World Cup so that makes sense.
  • Scott, I am not sure if I mentioned this to you while we were out there, but I was speaking with someone who was in on a panel discussion of the 3D TVs. She was saying they're going to make a major push of it,by televising the World Cup in 3D. I don't think they could have picked a better global market. Time will tell.

    I agree with Rob, it was great being out at CES this year, lots to see and so fun and informative to talk with everyone there.

    I'll be sure to be back there next year.
  • My time at CES was mainly spent at a sub conference called Digital Hollywood. http://www.digitalhollywood.co...

    I have been to around 5-6 DH conferences now and I am never disappointed. Major players speak / attend and the discussions are always very interesting / informative.

    I highly recommend going to a conference if your company is in this space.
  • It seems like the big attraction at CES this year was 3D TV. Personally, I am still skeptical as to whether this will really take hold or is merely another fad. However, one thing that really could boost the technology is sports, specifically football and soccer. If 3D television can greatly enhance the viewing experience for these two wildly popular programs then I could see consumers, especially young males, be willing to make the investment in more new equipment. As someone who watches obscene amounts of football that is something I will definitely be keeping my eye on moving forward.
  • CES 2010 was a great time. I would highly recommend making the trip for other Minnesota tech entrepreneurs in the future. If you are curious about my perspective on consumer app trends from CES, check out the post I wrote at http://bit.ly/82uVMe. One additional highlight was my lunch meeting with Editor-in-Chief for Mashable Adam Ostrow.
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