David Politis

Not only is it hard to imagine that 2006 has come and gone, but it’s also mind-bending to realize that CES starts this coming Monday.

With the death of COMDEX (the COMputer Dealer EXposition) a few years back, the annual Consumer Electronics Show has now become the largest technology tradeshow in the United States, if not the world.

Slated this year for January 8-11 in Las Vegas, CES will attract a truly worldwide audience of manufacturers, distributors, engineers, marketers, retailers, gawkers and more to the annual geek fest in glitter gulch. Oh yes, and journalists galore — probably 5,000+ this year coming from places as widespread and diverse as Salt Lake City and Singapore.

Based upon last year’s attendance figures, I will not be surprised to see total attendance surpass 200,000 unique visitors to CES this year.

As for me, I’m headed down to slot-machine city on Sunday with several members of the Politis Communications crew and major media events slated for both Sunday and Monday nights.

Look for more on CES between now and mid-January.

Lest you think this past weekend’s trip to the S.F. Bay was a bust (service-wise), let me note that the staff and management at the Oakland Marriott City Center were topnotch.

We asked for and got a very nice room with a view of the San Francisco Bay, and the overall service from everyone was very good. Thumbs Up!

Additionally, our first night in town we ate at the Caffe Verbena, which was right across the street from the Marriott and reasonably priced for a downtown restaurant.

The marinated hangar steak with salsa verde and polenta souffle was quite tasty, as was the herb roasted chicken with creamed spinach, cippolini onions and roasted potatoes.

I’ll definitely return to both establishments on my next trip to Oakland.

Thumbs Up for both!