2. No free rides

As I walked up to the Las Vegas convention center Sunday morning, I wasn't quite sure that Comdex really was in town, since I counted only six banners plastered on the center's main entrance outside walls - a space that's usually covered with come-ons to visit vendors' booths. It's also not a good sign when only one of the banners is for a company that actually produces products (Microsoft) and the others are for trade magazines and for Comdex' owner - MediaLive International.

Once I entered the main hall, I was shocked to see a bright red racing car with retailer Target's signature bulls-eye where a shiny black Mercedes sedan usually sits. I always wondered how many sales leads Mercedes actually got from the test drives they gave at Comdex, N+I, etc., particularly in this post dot-com era. But according to other pre-show coverage, Mercedes was disinvited - all the more to reinforce the new "all business" Comdex theme. Of course the fact that a shiny red racing car was being used to shill for Microsoft's .NET is ok, because racing is an IT-related business, too.

As I took my place in the Media registration line, things weren't looking much brighter, since more than a few folks were being turned away - casualties of MediaLive's tightened requirements for Media credentials. Newsletter writers didn't make the cut, and anyone without a business card and recent by-lined article from a business-focused publication was politely, but firmly turned away.

Once the exhibits floor opens tomorrow, it will be interesting to see if the massage-appliance and other non-IT vendors that seemed to be everywhere last year have truly been banished as show management says they have. I have to admit that I won't miss them much, even if they did add a bit of interesting color (and bargains, bargains, bargains!) to the show floor.