WEST COAST TECH COMPANIES HUGE PRESENCE AT CES 2010

By Nolan Apostle
Contributing Editor
Event City Creative Magazine

December 7, 2009

WEST COAST TECHNOLOGY COMPANIES HAVE A BIG PRESENCE AT INTERNATIONAL CES 2010.  Nearly 600 West Coast US-Based Companies will Exhibit at 2010 International CES® the illustrious Consumer Electronics Show this year.  Technology companies based in the western region of the United States will showcase their latest consumer electronics (CE) products at the 2010 International CES is the world’s largest consumer technology tradeshow. The 2010 International CES runs January 7-10 in Las Vegas, Nevada, and is anticipating more than 110,000 attendees. This year there is a record number of first time exhibitors expected to reveal their latest CE products among more than 2,500 exhibitors. “Every year our sales and purchasing teams get the opportunity to reach out, connect and expand our business relationships at CES,” said Scott Kusel, president, Evertek Computer Corp., located in Oceanside, California. “As an industry leader, we are focused on delivering the best deals to our partners worldwide, primarily through the internet. We also consider ourselves a small company and value face-to-face interactions. CES provides the venue for us to balance both objectives, turning a global event into a personal conversation, which makes perfect business sense.”

CES will host new CE Spotlights on the show floor, including new destinations:

EHX@CES, a dedicated show experience with free manufacturer training, an exclusive attendee reception, complimentary access to the high-performance audio demo rooms and CE Pro Headquarters;

iLounge Pavillion will feature the latest and greatest iPod, iPhone and Macintosh related products and technologies; and

Living in Digital Times, which turns the concept of a traditional exhibit upside-down with focus on technology that’s relevant to particular lifestyles. After successful launches of Kids@Play and the Silvers Summit, Living in Digital Times is now adding the Digital Health Summit, Mommy Tech and HigherEd TechZones. “Every year we design products that help improve the driving experience,” said Glenn Ihrke, vice president, national sales, Alpine Electronics of America, based in Torrance, California. “CES is the showcase where we unveil our latest innovations to our retailers, helping them deliver top-quality products to their customers, creating the best in-vehicle systems for the individual needs, lifestyles and budgets of the consumer.”

Other must-see attractions include: The Gaming Showcase which is back and bigger than ever before featuring gaming hardware and software with the entire range of consumer electronics products from online PC and HD gaming, plasma HDTV and home theater furniture to surround sound and power conditioning hardware; Location Based Services, which includes the Safe Driver TechZone, serves as the premiere location for providers of custom technologies, services and advertising sent to portable and in-car navigation devices, based on their current locations; and Sustainable Planet the hot spot for world-changing technologies, whether benefiting the environment, utilizing new forms of sustainable energy, renewing our resources, or contributing to the development of nations both on and off the grid.

“We have some very exciting, earth shattering, still-under-NDA news and products to announce at the 2010 International CES,” said Nicolas Villalobos, senior manager at Shuttle Computer Group in Los Angeles, California. “We’ll have a booth to showcase it all. And, we’re holding a press conference this time around to really kick things off, and get some questions from the media answered. I look forward to explaining “SPA”™ and hope to see everyone there.”

The 2010 International CES will host 20 market-specific TechZones throughout the Las Vegas Convention Center. These TechZones will highlight the latest in 3D Technology, Digital Health, eBooks, Netbooks, Robotics, and much more. In addition, the CES conference program kicks off on Wednesday January 6, 2010, featuring more than 250 conference sessions with 800 top tier speakers. The conference program unites the industry’s most respected experts to address the latest trends, strategies and profit opportunities in consumer technology.

The 2010 program will have nine Knowledge Tracks, including; Emerging Technology, Home Entertainment and Lifestyle Technologies, Issues and Attitudes, In-Vehicle Technology, Just the Facts: Research, Reports and Revelation, Technology and The Environment, Wireless Communications, Wireless Retail and brand new UP NEXT at CES: Creativity, Content and Cash. “San Jose, California-based Astak makes the lightest, most convenient, fastest and full-featured 5 inch eBook Reader available and will be unveiling new models at CES,” said Bob Barry, director, global business development, Astak. “There are twenty formats included, Adobe Digital Editions, higher resolution, Text-To-Speech, 6 colors, a USER-Replaceable rechargeable battery, E-INK, SD memory to 16GB (holds 8,000 eBooks) and a free leather case!! This is the Pocket PRO landmark that we can’t wait to unveil at CES.” For a complete listing of CES exhibitors, please visit the 2010 CES exhibitor directory now to see why this is the LARGEST SHOW IN THE WORLD FOR CONSUMER ELECTRONIC GOODS!  See you at CES 2010!!

Note to Reporters, Writers, Editors, Photographers, Videographers, Journalists of all types: The Event City Network is launching LIVE
at CES 2010 and we can use your help.  Please contact us if you or someone you know is interested in attending CES 2010 to assist us in covering the entire conference and tradeshow along with all activity!  Contact us at ec@eventcity.net – THANK YOU for reading the Event City Creative Magazine.

Event & Meeting Professional’s Mixer – NorCal

By Nolan Apostle
Contributing Editor
Event City Creative Magazine

The Northern California Chapter of PCMA will be hosting a mixer and all Bay Area Event, Meeting and Hospitality Professionals are encouraged to attend. This event is being held at the beautiful Julia Morgan Ballroom in downtown San Francisco. Besides some of the wonderful people you will meet, Wine and Delicious Food will be present as well. The Julia Morgan Ballroom, is located on the 15th Floor of the Merchants Exchange Building in the Financial district of San Francisco.

It has become one of San Francisco’s premiere event facilities and is a popular event destination for hundreds of important businesses and notable individuals over the years. Some of their clients include Industrial Light & Magic, Cisco, Siemens, Wells Fargo, Bain & Company, AES, Oracle, Deutsche Bank, Novartis, Bank of America, Charles Schwab, Ketchum Advertising, Actuate, The Bar Association of San Francisco, Sedgwick, Moran & Arnold, Guinness, Los Angeles Times, the NAACP, John Kerry, Robert Redford, and Steve Jobs.

The Ballroom is centrally located in San Francisco’s vibrant Financial District, at the century-old Merchants Exchange building. It is easily accessible by public transportation, and steps away from the City’s finest hotels, dining, and shopping. Ballroom staff can provide full and discreet service throughout the day and evening of your event, allowing you to focus with confidence on your party, event, conference, or meeting, whatever the business at hand may be.

First serving as San Francisco’s “Commercial Club” in the early 1900s, the stylish, neoclassically designed Julia Morgan Ballroom hosts exclusive corporate events, weddings, charitable functions, meetings and special occasions in a truly one-of-a kind San Francisco experience. The Ballroom is simply a historic gem, a classic San Francisco “structure” with great historic value.

The Julia Morgan Ballroom is generously supporting the event. Event City understands and supports all organizations within the Events & Creative Industries who are making it easier for planners to work within these industries as well. Bringing Event Professionals together to help them expand their professional possibilities is an important goal at the Event City Network, as well as with the PCMA.

Invited to this event will be the members of the local chapters of MPI, HSMAI, IAEE, SITE and ASAE, and if you do not belong to one of the associations please come as well. One of these organizations may interest you. So come on out for a great evening of food, wine and unlimited networking possibilities!

The event’s attire will be business casual and don’t forget them business cards. This is a FEE based event, which we know is different than most Event industry mixers covered by one of our magazines or bloggers, but there should be a good selection of Event Planners attending this function and of course some fine food. Speaking or food….

Catering the event is La Bonne Cuisine, they will be providing scrumptious treats for you. They were established in 1995 by Award-winning Executive Chef, Christophe Kubiak, primarily as a corporate catering company specializing in cocktail parties, executive luncheons, buffet and sit-down dinners, La Bonne Cuisine Catering quickly became known as one of Greater Bay Area’s best, most reliable and refined catering companies. They are renowned for their creativity, originality and more importantly, taste in special food concepts, along with sublime presentation and attention to detail. As far as this reporter is concerned, this alone is a great reason to not miss this GREAT event!

EVENT MIXER DETAILS:

When: Thursday, October 29, 2009 6:00 PM – 8:00 PM

Where: Julia Morgan Ballroom Merchants Exchange 465 California Street 15th Floor San Francisco, CA 94104

Students fee $30.00

PCMA Member Fee $30.00

Non-Member Fee $35.00

Design Your Own – Unbelieveable Web Design Tools

How long have we waited for the ability to take our web design ideas and just sit down and build? Yes, you. Take your photos, drawings, artwork, text, any form of media we might want to add to some type of a Internet presence and begin to build it. Imagine a website created by your 9 year old son or daughter, pretty cool just to let them have a go at building a web presence for you, right? Whether it be a birthday party for your Spouse, or a website for a small business or even just to have some fun with family and friends.

Recently my son began to build his own website. He’s only nine. Yeah he rides his bike, plays soccer and goes Wirling as often as he can, but he LOVES to work on his website too. He uses an online tool for building a pretty robust, graphic filled, creative, energetic, and all around FUN website. No special skills except taking a little time to learn the ins and outs of that new online tool (sorry my Little Man for revealing your secrets, but your Website is looking really sharp anyway). So how does one learn to Design their own website? I’ll reveal this and much more, in a series of articles, as I review a number of different solutions such as software products, websites, online tools and more that will help you do just that. Design your own web presence.

So how would you like to save money, in some cases lots of it, and be able to build a pretty cool website at the same time? No, that’s not a trick question, just reality in the 21st century, and the direction technology has allowed us to travel.

It’s been such a long time since building your own website lived in the realm of black-framed, eyeglass-wearing, palm-pilot-toting, geeky graphic designers in the alleys of SOHO or pencil-necked gearheads who lived, ate, and dreamed about code in a place called Silicon Valley. Well all of that is now changed.

There are a number of different companies that offer solutions, some of them very simple and easy to use, solutions for building a very nice, super clean, PROFESSIONAL web presence. Over the course of the next couple of months I will talk about them and reveal how you can build your own, with very little or practically no skills. For most of these solutions having the knowledge of how to use Microsoft Word is about all you will need to accommplish some magical feats of web design. Some might be slightly more advanced, but then with the addition of some great “Templates” you’re once again off and running. Yep, the software does all of the coding, extra design elements and so much more.

So let’s begin with a couple of very unique, and also very different programs; you might consider them bookends in the world of “Design-Your-Own-Web”, but ultimately each one of these great products, keeps it real and allows you to create wonderful websites.

SiteGrinder2 and Yola. Sound like some characters from a Star Wars movie? No, just some pretty cool tools to help you be more creative and save you lots of money.

Yola brings website building to the rest of us. Small businesses, groups and organizations, Non-profits, even your Aunt Jenny. How about the gal sitting next to you on the subway, or the dude in the cubicle next to you. Everyone. The Yola website builder lets you easily take what’s in your head and turn it into webpages in front of your eyes. Yola lets you make great-looking sites with webages that work beautifully together.

The magic of all this is the company does this without any imposing banner ads or plastering pop-up ad windows everywhere. They fundamentally believe that the user of their product should be able to build and host their websites without paying for a designer, a suite of software or a hosting company. With Yola, you have absolutely everything you need to get your site up and running. If you want even more, they offer premium features too. The company is also there to provide you with a helping hand, so you’ll never feel like you’re stuck. They work very hard so you don’t have to. They believe they have truly created a “no-brainer” solution for everyone to build outstanding websites. We’ll let you know as we review this product in the coming weeks. So in a nutshell that’s who Yola is.

Sitegrinder 2 turns Adobe Photoshop into an easy-to-use and powerful website design and production tool. It’s true! In fact, a SiteGrinder 2-equipped designer with no HTML programming expertise needs only some basic Photoshop skills to go from design concept to full deployment of a professional, standards-compliant website in just minutes with no programming whatsoever … and they do it all from within Photoshop.

SiteGrinder 2 takes care of everything, even ensuring cross-platform browser compatibility. Best of all, pages created with SiteGrinder 2 retain the exact look and layout of the parent Photoshop file from which they were created. Pretty amazing huh?!

I specifically chose Yola and SiteGrinder to begin this series of articles because they are very different- one takes absolutely NO skills and the other you need the skill of a specific software. One is online and used via the web. The other is a software tool, a Plug-in that is used off-line and you build the webpages within that software program.

As easy as either one of these might seem to you, everything else I introduce to you over the next couple of months will either be almost as simple as Yola, and may not be as diverse as SiteGrinder2, but rest assured all of these tools will allow you to build your own website fairly easily and with very little cost!.

Until then, do not hesitate to send us your feedback and comments on what you might want us to review in the future.

Photography by Nolan Apostle

Until we have a permanent location for the Nolan Apostle Photography Collection his images will appear at numerous locations on the Web, as well as Event City, and the Nolan Apostle Photography Facebook Fan Page. Photos from the Photography Collection of Nolan Apostle including some from the Way Back Machine, the Imagination Unlimited Photography days. Photos will be showcased here, usually before any other location on the web. See the links below to view the collection of photographs for each one.

Images are viewable in a smaller format online, if you would like to purchase larger, good to high quality prints for a nominal fee shoot us an email to make arrangements for your purchases. All captions are written by Nolan.

To receive updates, don’t forget to sign up as a FAN of Nolan Apostle Photography you might see some pictures of YOU on here too!

Johnny doing what he loves best, WIRLING in a Fun World USA WIRLBALL™!

Boxer Joe Gumina hanging out

Michelle & Tammy Gumina - How Sweet!!

Having fun at the Fox!

Alan, our fearless retired leader.

Joe & Barbara being goofy; Yaaaaaayy!!

SF Mayor Gavin Newsom with Event City's AJ

Gavin Newsom delivering a GREAT speech.

Gavin on the drums, "Not bad Mr. Mayor"!

Event City's, Felix Solomon, hanging out.

Clay Summers, Event City's David Molinari & Charles Peterson, way back in the day.

Journey's Steve Perry having fun.

My good ol' friend TK - Damn I miss him!

Here are some new photos recently posted from the personal collection of Nolan Apostle Photography. We hope you enjoy them! There are plenty more to come.

The Gumina Family Holiday Party

Gavin Newsom’s Campaign Party on Pier 23

Scouting in Pacifica California Also available on the Event City GigaTribe location – request your Event City Official ALL ACCESS PASS once you become a Member of the Event City Network!

Fox Theater Grand Reopening

Imagination Unlimited Photography (Early photos from Nolan’s photography career)

We looking forward to seeing you on the Event City Network.

New Events BlogaZine for Event City Members

EVENTS THROUGHOUT AMERICA
Launches on the Event City Network™

A musical stiltwalker enjoys a stroll by the Fox

If you haven’t seen it yet, please feel free to visit the new Event City BlogaZine created by popular demand as a precursor to the Event City Event Listing Channel.

It allows registered Members the opportunity to list their events for FREE! You will have the opportunity to showcase many types of Event Announcements.

The BlogaZine is called, EVENTS THROUGHOUT AMERICA^TM and all you need to do is sign up for the Event City Network. Once you sign up you can list all your events for Free.

From Parties and Industry meetings to major conventions and tradeshows. Political fund-raisers to Grand Openings. Carnivals to Resort property announcements. Wedding Faires, Street Faires, Circus shows, Concerts and many, many more!

Any questions please email us for details. We look forward to seeing you in the City, EVENT CITY!

Meeting & Event Planning Industry Tradeshow Hosted in SF

Nolan Apostle – Contributing Editor, Producer
Event City Creative Magazine
Event City BlogaZines

Are you a Meeting or Event Manager, maybe a Corporate Planner, a Hotel, Restaurant, or Caterer? If so, then this event is a must attend for you and your associates!

The Meeting Professionals International Nor Cal Chapter is hosting their 21st Annual Trade Show at Moscone Center West in San Francisco on Tuesday, February 24, 2009. This event is an incredible educational and networking opportunity. This writer has covered this event for several years and has also attended it as a Meeting/Event Professional, and it is by far one of the best events for networking and making good quality industry connections.

The MPINCC Trade Show is considered to be a leading regional show in the hospitality and meeting planning industries. It will showcase a number of relevant workshop sessions being taught by outstanding leaders which include: Marketing through social networking, legal issues confronting meeting professionals in today’s environment, technology tools for busy professionals, working in a multi-generational workforce, and the state of the current economy both globally and personally. Those of you considering a Meeting Planning education can take courses to help you move closer to earning a CMP and CMM credentials. A New Workshop was just added with an emphasis on career strategies and up-to-date resume tips. Sheryl Sookman Schelter, CMP, will be leading a morning workshop titled after her new book, “Who’s in Charge of Your Career? Creating a Strategy for Success.” Please visit the Event Summary page for additional details.

This year’s Trade Show theme is “Connections through Collaboration.” In today’s environment, especially how rough the economy is and how it is effecting almost all businesses across the board, making connections are more important than ever and what better way to connect than a full day of face-to-face time with industry peers and prospective clients and vendors?

The ability to make connections at this event are vast: Connect at the morning workshops, during exhibit-floor time, and at the post-show afternoon reception. More than 4,000 corporate, association, government and meeting management professionals are invited to attend. This year you can expect a strong variety of educational sessions, amazing prizes, plenty of time on the Trade Show floor and the popular Wine Tasting Reception. The reception will be easily accessible, taking place on the Third Level of Moscone West directly upstairs from the exhibit hall.

Pleaser visit the MPI Local San Francisco website for more info.

Fox Theater Oakland Reopening Party

Nolan Apostle – Contributing Editor, Producer
Event City Creative Magazines
Event City BlogaZines

Evening of the Fox Reopening

What the Fox might of looked like back in the day

A musical stiltwalker enjoys a stroll by the Fox

It’s been over a week since the big bash at the Oakland Fox Theater in Northern California and some of you have already sent us some nice emails about some of the photographs we have uploaded to several of our sites. You can see many of the FOX photos at my personal Facebook page and also at my new Facebook Photographic page. It will showcase a great deal of work from the days when I was a full time photographer, band manager and concert producer.

Many photographs from the Event City Creative Magazine will also be placed at various locations throughout our different websites. Please feel free to download the images for your personal use. If you would like to purchase a high quality image scan print, or higher quality photographs please contact us, we will be happy to help you with your order. Most of our photographs are available for sale including those from our Archived Collection – “Imagination Unlimited Productions“.  We offer great pricing on our images as well as our Full Color Printing Services.

Here’s some fun pictures for your perusal. Click on the image to see it’s full size.

A couple of "Flashers" from the past!

A couple of “Flashers” from the past!

A musical stiltwalker enjoys a stroll by the Fox

Bruce Springsteen & E-Street Band at Superbowl XLIII

Bruce S & E-Street Band ROCK the Superbowl

I had just turned on the TV late afternoon on Sunday to catch some of the Superbowl, and Bruce Springsteen and the E-Street Band were announced and Wow what a show it was!! They rocked to many favorites and the crowd did not let up at all. Fireworks lit up the sky in Tampa Bay tonight, and the crowd sung along to Born to Run and many other awesome Springsteen hits.

Watching Bruce and the E-Street Band perform today brings back many memories of my days in the Rock’n'Roll world. Bruce Springsteen, the BOSS, is the Robert De Niro of the Music Industry! Those in the movie biz know how nice, openly friendly and courteous, a real gentleman Mr. De Niro is; and not just to his friends and co-workers but everyone. One of the most powerful men in Hollywood and he’s a sweetheart!

I had the opportunity to work with Bruce Springsteen and company back in the 70’s and 80’s and they were all very professional, extremely well organized (something very rare back in those days for Rock’n’Rollers), and Bruce and the gang were just the nicest of them all. No egos flying every which way, no attitude, just good times and getting their job done with a flair to please the masses.

I’ll never forget the night I gave a ride to one of Bruce’s close friends who was attending his concert from out of town. It was very late, but I lived on the Peninsula and I was giving him a ride to Bruce’s parents house who also lived on the Peninsula.

When we got there everyone was just so tired. Bruce was sitting at the table across from his wife, his hand on his forehead, obviously extremely tired, and he looked up at me and said, “Hey, you sure look exhausted”. Here he was, just finished an exploding show, in his mom’s kitchen, and he still had it in him to say “hey” to someone he barely knew. Suffice it to say, I rested for about 15 minutes, got a few aspirins, said my good-byes, and got the biggest hug from Mama Springsteen, you would of thought I was one of her own!! I was told later she is that way with all of Bruce’s friends!!

At that moment I realized why Bruce is the beautiful guy that he is, why he chooses to have those kind of people around him, and after seeing him there exhausted, I realize he really is the “Working Man” that he so often signs about.

Back to the show — “IT’S BOSS TIME”,

Little Stevie belted out those words at the end of their set at Superbowl 43!! What an incredible show, you can’t help but feel good watching them play! Those of you that know me know I am not that big of a spectator sports fan, I’d rather be playing than watching, and as far as I am concerned, I just watched the Superbowl!!

May Bruce Springsteen and the E-Street Band live forever!!

Bruce Springsteen - "You can't help but feel good watching them play"

Nolan Apostle – Contributing Editor, Producer
Event City Creative Magazines
Event City BlogaZines
magazine@eventcity.net

On April 17th, 2008 Bruce’s dear friend and keyboard player Danny Federici died after a 3 year battle with Melanoma. During the Superbowl they debuted a “Danny Fund PSA” and it can be seen at the Danny Federici Memorial Site. Please visit it now to learn more how you can help in this great cause. From everyone here at the Event City Network, our heartfelt condolences go out to Danny’s family, Bruce Springsteen, his entire band and management at Thrill Hill Productions and all of Danny’s friends.

Fair & Festival Convention Opens a Sold Out Show

What an Opening Day of the Western Fairs Association (WFA) Convention taking place in Reno Nevada right now.  It is a Huge Success!  Event City welcomes the Western Fair Association’s main Convention and all of its delegates to the Grand Sierra Resort, and all of their fine Exhibitors to this wonderful show.  See a serendipity of talent and unique products and services as you peruse this exhibitor list.

The day began with the Opening General Assembly which included a visit from California’s Secretary of Agriculture, A.G. Kawamura who recognized John Kegebein for his dedication to the Santa Cruz County Fair. The California Department of Food and Agriculture, Division of Fairs and Expositions unveiled Code Adam, a tool for all fairs to use in cases of missing children. Our keynote, L. Hunter Lovins struck a cord with the audience when she presented a business case for creating a sustainable and greener business and environment.

The sold out Trade Show opened with a bang. Prizes were awarded hourly and aisles were crowded the entire four hours of the show. The NICA Food Show was popular with service members and fairs alike. We look forward to continued success. The evening activities began with a delightful Presidents reception with great food and lots of networking opportunities. As the Presidents reception ended a successful Entertainment Showcase began. Crowds poured into the Reno Ballroom for great entertainment, one dollar beers, food, dancing and a rockin’ good time. Western Fairs Association wishes everyone the best for 2009!

Those of you not familiar with the Western Fairs Association (WFA), it is a non-profit trade association serving the fair industry throughout the Western United States and Canada. The association’s primary purpose is to assist in maintaining the highest professional standards within the fair industry through a voluntary network of individuals and organizations. The primary objective of Western Fairs Association is to promote the prosperity of fairs through educational activities, training programs, and legislative advocacy.

Currently Western Fairs serves more than 2,000 members, representing fair-related businesses, fair management, fair board directors, festivals, and industry associations. This membership is represented by a 23-member elected board of directors that governs the activities and policies of the association.

President Barack H. Obama History & Hope

PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA

On Tuesday, January 20th, 2009 at 12:05pm EST Barack Obama became the 44th President of the United States of America and the 1st African American President ever! Catch the Event City coverage at our Event City Creative Magazine.

All of us at the Event City Network, Event City Emporium and the Internet Organization are looking forward to the new administration of President Obama.

We are so thrilled to be able to live to see the dream of Martin Luther King come to pass. To see the Millions on site who witnessed this historic event. To listen to his eloquent but tough speech to the country and to the world, and to realize how he and his Cabinet will be rolling up their sleeves as soon as first thing tomorrow morning to get to the job at hand – CHANGE.

We will be there right along side our new President to do whatever we can do to help with our dream for Hope and the challenge of Change.

Nolan Apostle, Contributing Editor
Event City Creative Magazine/Event City BlogaZine