Las Vegas Archive

The CES Party You Don't Want to Miss

So, even though I've covered tech for quite a while, I've never been a gadget reporter and hence always avoided going to CES. For those who don't know, CES is the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. In the wake of the dot com bust, as the housing market took off, and we all felt richer it became the must-attend tech conference. It didn't hurt that it was the golden age of gadgets with flat panel TVs, DVRs, iPods, iPhones, and Tasers. Yes, Tasers. There's endless footage of curious reporters getting Tased at CES for some reason.

What was the reason? I don't know. Because every January, I've been happily back in San Francisco at a desk, not standing in mile-long cab lines. Now that CES is allegedly on the wane, I didn't even give attending a second thought. Until one night when I was having dinner with Brian "Pocket-Sized Ricky Ricardo" Solis and Somewhat Frank Gruber and they convinced me by ordering a second bottle of champagne, promising we'd all co-host an epic party, and I wouldn't even have to get Tased. I never host a party in Vegas without involving Tony "My TV commercials suck, but I'm awesome otherwise" Hsieh, because that's like doing a mob hit in Jersey without calling Tony Soprano. (I'm not sure that metaphor makes sense. It's early. But you know what I mean.)

Flash-forward a few months and a big check from Intel and we're all set to have the CES kickoff party this Thursday night. Tickets are free but extremely limited, so watch Twitter. We will each Twitter the Eventbrite link at 2 p.m. pacific time today. They will go quick. Did I mention free drinks? Yeah, it's going to be awesome.

Here's a clip from my last Vegas party with Tony:

Vegas Baby from sarah lacy on Vimeo.

And here's a slightly more substantial video shot yesterday where Paul Kedrosky and I discuss CES's questionable relevance at a time when none of us have money for gadgets.

More on that Vegas Party....

Olivia and I are sitting in a coffee shop in Memphis doing a little co-working. She's forcing us to plow through a backlog of neglected media interviews, signing some books we owe people, responding to emails and of course sifting through all this flipcammed video before we can go to ....wait for it... THE MIDSOUTH FAIR. Funnel cakes and roller coasters here we come!! I'm just hoping there are pig races or a mechanical bull I can ride...

Speaking of the Flipcam, it's a wonder that little thing hasn't broken. I think we can all agree it was the best $150 Sarahlacy.com ever spent. Here are a few outtakes from our amazing Vegas party with Tony Hsieh of Zappos. It features Ranvir Gujral-- one of our FAVORITE people we've met on the UGBT road. He's better known around the Sarahlacy.com offices as the Chong to Gregarious' Cheech. (And by "offices" I mean the roving collection of planes/hotels/coffeeshops/bars/my living room where Olivia and I sit glued to laptops, finishing each other's sentences of late.) 

Oh, and keep an eye on this blog for announcements of the upcoming America's Best Dance Crew-style dance off between Cheech and Chong's company Blue Whale Labs and Sarahlacy.com. Anyone at the TechSet after party last friday KNOWS Miss Olivia can bring it. Big time.

Vegas Baby from sarah lacy on Vimeo.

World Economic Forum: Red (Lobster) Alert!

So just in case we hadn't mentioned it, Sarah and I went to Las Vegas this weekend. Contrary to popular opinion, Vegas is not just all bright lights and people running amok, fueled by whatever vice happens to engage them at that moment. It is, in fact, the perfect place to sit down and have an international, in-depth dialogue about our current economic status. No, not the Merrill Lynch buy-out, not the Lehman Brothers bankruptcy crisis, or even the U.S. government's proposed $700 billion dollar bailout, but the food-to-price ratio of the lobster salad at Spago. Robert Loch, the "Hugh Hefner" of the London tech scene as he is known, takes a minute out of his schedule this weekend to discuss his thoughts... (and because he is British, and very irate, be forewarned that the following contains some choice expletives) Bon appetit!

Robert Loch on Intercontinental Food Economics from sarah lacy on Vimeo.

Memphis to Las Vegas: A Little Less Conversation, A Little More Spy Camming

After spending only 24 jam-packed hours in our hometown of Memphis, Sarah and I hopped an early flight to Las Vegas last Friday to begin another epic UGBT tour stop. Flight-time is normally put to good use, with Sarah editing videos and updating blog posts (while I eavesdrop over her shoulder) but we found ourselves in separate seats during this particular trip. Naturally, she got right down to work, but I faced two huge distractions on my side of the plane. Now, let it be known that this is why Sarah and I adore Memphis and its idiosyncrasies. Quite simply, when you're visiting the M (or flying out of it for that matter) you just never know what you're gonna get...

On the Way to Vegas from sarah lacy on Vimeo.

UGBT: Back in Memphis. Two More Events to Go!

My, my, my. What a weekend. Olivia and I had a great time in Vegas at Blog World Expo-- not that we actually made it to much of the conference proper. Huge, HUGE thanks to Brian Solis and Stephanie Agresta for letting me sign books poolside at the TechSet party. And an even bigger thanks to Tony Hsieh of Zappos for co-hosting the party at Prive with me last night. I use the word "co-hosting" loosely, as Tony did all the work and I mostly showed up and tried to be charming. And in the picture below, strangely vampy. What can I say? Brian Solis brings out my frustrated inner super model.

Here's Tony with the Evolution of Dance guy who happened to be there. Tony barely uttered the words, "hey, would you mind..." and the guy was whipping out a CD and jumped on stage to do the routine live. The crowd went wild. Totally one of those rad moments for the Internet-meme obsessed. If only Tay Zonday or "I LIKE TURTLES!" had jumped out of the crowd next...

Evolution of Dance in action:

And Olivia in action FlipCamming away before a bouncer told her to stop. (She had a dress you can wear five ways- I think this is no. 3)

(Video from the party to come. Thanks to Brian Solis for the photos!)

We're back in Memphis now and in Toronto on Thursday.