I was hoping to escape the echo chamber of the Bay Area by going to CES in Las Vegas. I've only been partially successful so far.

I flew in Wednesday morning and booked into Planet Hollywood. After a nap and some blog posts it was already evening. I set off onto the strip heading for The Venetian to catch a "blogger" party sponsored by Lenovo. It was mostlyt full of the same people I see all the time but also some of my favorite people such as Paul Mooney, that I only see once a year.

Paul Mooney is OG or rather OB, an original blooger, he's the real thing  - no fancy rooms or flights paid for by sponsors. He used his frequent flier miles to make it to CES and is couch surfing while he's here. (Photo of Paul Mooney and John Furrier.)

Also at the party were the social climbers of the blogosphere, Julia Allison, Megan Asha, and pals. It was nice to chat with them but it also seemed a little sad that they would travel all this way from New York city to socialize with CES geeks and bloggers, hoping to climb a little higher in their media popularity.

I would say that Ms. Allison peaked when she made the cover of Wired magazine last year, for no other reason than being an example of someone that pursues Internet publicity. I'm happy to make my micro contribution to her cause, but these days it all seems a little too dated, a little too 2008...

She tells me she has ambitions beyond Wired, but I promised I wouldn't say which magazines she is targeting this year. It seems like a harmless hobby.

It was also great to run into pals Ken Kaplan of Intel, Chris Heuer and his lovely wife Kristie Wells, JD Lassica, John Furrier, and Brian Solis.  

I'm very much looking forward to Thursday afternoon. I have a meeting with Craig Barrett, chairman of the world's largest chip maker, Intel (and one of my most loyal sponsors.)

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Please see:

Internet Famous: Julia Allison and the Secrets of Self-Promotion

Julia Allison and Meghan Asha Dish About Digital Cribs Via TelePresence - DigItAll Consumer