CES 2013: Special report on must-sees at this year's show

Event Marketer is on the scene at this year’s Consumer Electronics Show. Here, we bring you the brands and exhibits that stopped us in our tracks on our first day at the show. 

1. Check out Intel’s booth in the Central Hall. There’s plenty of seating to sit for a second and relax and charge your cell phone, including a pavilion where you can get a great view down the hall. But, the major attraction is the stunning, interactive metallic “tree” whose branches are made of the brand’s tablet-laptop.

2. Automobiles are becoming so technologically advanced that their offerings rival some of the big-name tech companies. You simply cannot miss Audi’s booth in the North Hall—seriously. It is a bright, almost blinding white tunnel featuring vehicle displays and two dark hallways featuring simulator experiences and demonstrations of the high-tech features in the brand’s latest lineup. It got our motors running.

3. Camera brands are almost demanding relevancy in the age of smartphones with huge exhibits filled with tons of products to play with. For instance, at Nikon’s exhibit you can watch a mad scientist mix potions and look through the HD lens of a camera while he’s doing it; onlookers can watch the action from screens mounted atop.

4. Many brands are offsetting what is a simple product display with light shows and sound. LG has an intense and exhilarating entrance into its exhibit. You can grab a free pair of 3D glasses and gaze at an archway made of 140, 55-inch 3D monitors. Sony has a sweeping, river-like display overhead encircling its exhibit, as well as low lighting and bumping music. Samsung has a center display featuring flat screen TVs that move and rotate on tracks to the music.

5. Another standout was the massive Gibson tent outside the convention center. At the end of the day on Wednesday, the brand offered two bar set-ups and handed out free beers and cocktails. There was live music and an entire table of guitars for convention-goers to pick up and jam out with. Not a bad way to end a long day at the convention center.