????曾經(jīng)的Comdex大展表面上看是在拉斯維加斯舉行的計(jì)算機(jī)行業(yè)展銷會(huì)，它一度成為全體硅谷人的年度聚會(huì)。隨后，Comdex大展隨著互聯(lián)網(wǎng)泡沫的破裂而煙消云散，另一項(xiàng)同時(shí)期的業(yè)界展會(huì)——消費(fèi)電子展（CES）的重要性陡然上升。從表面上看，參加CES的都是硬件廠商，它們參展的目的是向零售商展示有可能在當(dāng)年圣誕節(jié)上市的產(chǎn)品。

????和之前的Comdex一樣，CES基本上是電腦迷的盛會(huì)。人們?cè)谶@里可以看到令計(jì)算機(jī)發(fā)燒友怦然心動(dòng)的最新硬件。它們有些是實(shí)實(shí)在在的產(chǎn)品，有些則是如此夢(mèng)幻，以至于從未在商店櫥窗里出現(xiàn)過(guò)。對(duì)于一些聰明的公司來(lái)說(shuō)，CES還為它們提供了一個(gè)機(jī)會(huì)，來(lái)推出主打產(chǎn)品，引起消費(fèi)科技媒體的關(guān)注。一款在CES上讓人眼前一亮的產(chǎn)品有可能就能決定某家廠商全年的銷售業(yè)績(jī)。

????但是后來(lái)，情況出現(xiàn)了變化。推出新產(chǎn)品的重要性不斷下降。成為焦點(diǎn)也變得過(guò)于困難。蘋果公司（Apple）讓其他廠商意識(shí)到，和到拉斯維加斯博眼球相比，自己搞活動(dòng)的效果要好得多。不過(guò)，CES變得越發(fā)強(qiáng)大，所有科技相關(guān)行業(yè)的思潮引領(lǐng)者一定會(huì)在新年過(guò)后立即趕赴CES。任何跟科技勉強(qiáng)沾邊的產(chǎn)品都能參會(huì)，不管是空調(diào)，還是汽車。幾年前，美國(guó)消費(fèi)電子協(xié)會(huì)（Consumer Electronics Association）主席加里?夏皮羅甚至在CES上兜售自己寫的書，內(nèi)容是他自創(chuàng)的自由市場(chǎng)政治和對(duì)民主黨的痛斥。

????實(shí)際上，CES的總展覽面積為190萬(wàn)平方英尺（約17.65萬(wàn)平方米），在這里走上一遭會(huì)讓人心力交瘁、口干舌燥、徹底喪失勇氣——在CES的各個(gè)樓層有多少活動(dòng)，在會(huì)場(chǎng)之外就會(huì)有同樣數(shù)量的活動(dòng)。它甚至成了讓首席營(yíng)銷官們駐足的重大展會(huì)。這些CMO們十分清楚，科技是決定他們未來(lái)的關(guān)鍵（斗膽插一句，本周我寫了一篇報(bào)道，內(nèi)容是我的同事杰西?亨普爾在CES的《財(cái)富》雜志活動(dòng)中主持的一次分組會(huì)議，主題是數(shù)字營(yíng)銷）。

????實(shí)際上，如果某位首席營(yíng)銷官不參加CES， 他就有可能和別人失去聯(lián)系。數(shù)字營(yíng)銷咨詢公司Medialink負(fù)責(zé)人溫達(dá)?米勒德說(shuō)：“現(xiàn)在，參加CES的營(yíng)銷人員并不是來(lái)看技術(shù)本身，他們的真正目的是了解技術(shù)怎樣促使消費(fèi)者行為發(fā)生改變。他們了解這些的原因不是因?yàn)榧夹g(shù)很酷。他們要看的是技術(shù)變化如何改變消費(fèi)者的行為。”

????用一句商業(yè)套話總結(jié)就是，CES已經(jīng)達(dá)到了臨界規(guī)模，甚至超過(guò)了這個(gè)水平。沃爾瑪（Wal-Mart）電子商務(wù)業(yè)務(wù)負(fù)責(zé)人尼爾?阿什指出“CES是數(shù)字化轉(zhuǎn)型領(lǐng)域的火人節(jié)。”沃爾瑪為電子商務(wù)投入了130億美元，但這項(xiàng)業(yè)務(wù)仍處于虧損狀態(tài)（再斗膽插一句，周一夜間我在拉斯維加斯采訪了阿什，就是他親口告訴我，沃爾瑪?shù)碾娚虡I(yè)務(wù)尚未盈利）。阿什還說(shuō)：“從消費(fèi)者的角度而言，CES很棒，在這兒人們可以想象一下今后幾年消費(fèi)者會(huì)有什么樣的體驗(yàn)。從商家的角度來(lái)看，CES的規(guī)模越來(lái)越大，這讓它成為一個(gè)越來(lái)越重要的交匯點(diǎn)。今年的參展商多種多樣，很有意思。一些CES?？鸵呀?jīng)離去，或者壓縮了參會(huì)規(guī)?！颈热缥④洠∕icrosoft）——編者注】。在停車場(chǎng)，你看到的全都是《紐約時(shí)報(bào)》（New York Times）、美國(guó)郵政（United States Postal Service）和寶馬（BMW）。CES的發(fā)展變化很奇妙?！?/p>

????值得贊賞的是，盡管沒(méi)有兌現(xiàn)哪怕一個(gè)大賣點(diǎn)，CES仍然實(shí)現(xiàn)了蓬勃發(fā)展。杜比實(shí)驗(yàn)室（Dolby Laboratories）新任首席營(yíng)銷官鮑勃?博徹斯說(shuō)：“在過(guò)去5-7年里，CES既是有著最閃亮屏幕的電腦迷盛會(huì)，又是一項(xiàng)銷售和營(yíng)銷活動(dòng)。它一直在穩(wěn)步發(fā)展?，F(xiàn)在，人們既可以在這里會(huì)面和宣傳，也可以公開闡述自己的觀點(diǎn)。這個(gè)地方總是這么喧囂。在這里提出新點(diǎn)子的難度很大，但這是個(gè)很棒的會(huì)面場(chǎng)所?！保ㄘ?cái)富中文網(wǎng)）

????譯者：Charlie???

????First there was Comdex, ostensibly a computer-industry buying exposition in Las Vegas that nevertheless became an annual party for all of Silicon Valley. Then, when Comdex collapsed with the dotcom bust, the already-existing Consumer Electronics Show, ostensibly a gathering of device makers showing retailers what they could sell the following Christmas, surged in importance.

????CES, like Comdex before it, was mostly a geekfest. It was the place to see the latest gadgets -- some real, some so fantastical that they'd never see store shelves -- designed to set the hearts of gearheads aflutter. It also was an opportunity for a few clever companies to launch major products and to grab the attention of the personal-technology press. A breakout hit at CES could define an entire years of sales.

????Then something changed. Product launches diminished in importance. It became too hard to get noticed, and Apple (AAPL) taught manufacturers that it's much better to do your own event than to compete for attention in Las Vegas. Yet CES is stronger than ever, the undisputed nexus for opinion leaders in any industry touched by technology to come together right after the new year. Any topic remotely tangential to technology is fair game in CES, from air conditioners to automobiles. A few years back it even became a venue for Gary Shapiro, president of the Consumer Electronics Association, which puts on CES, to hawk a book promoting his own brand of Democrat-bashing free-market politics.

????Indeed, for all the action on the show's many floors -- walking all 1.9 million square feet of CES is a soul-sapping, dehydrating, physically grueling, thoroughly demoralizing experience -- as much action happens off the floor as on. CES even has become an important stop on the circuit of chief marketing officers, who are fully aware that technology holds the key to their future. (Shameless plug: This week, I wrote about a panel my colleague Jessi Hempel moderated at a Fortune event during CES. It focused on digital marketing.)

????In fact, a chief marketing officer who doesn't attend CES runs the risk of being out touch. "Marketers who come to CES now aren't here to see the technology per se," says Wenda Millard, who runs the digital marketing advisory firm Medialink. "They're really here to understand technology as a facilitator of changes in consumer behavior. They're not looking at technology because it's cool. They're looking at changes in consumer behavior caused by changes in technology."

????To reduce it to a business cliché, CES has achieved critical mass. And then some. "CES is the Burning Man of digital transformation," says Neil Ashe, the head of Wal-Mart's $13 billion -- but money-losing -- e-commerce effort. (Shameless plug number two: I interviewed Ashe Monday night in Las Vegas, and he's the one who pointed out that Wal-Mart (WMT) doesn't yet make money online.) Ashe adds: "On the consumer side, it is a great place to go to be immersed in what consumers are going to be experiencing over the next couple of years. On the business side, the bigger it has gotten the more important it has become as a gathering point. It was interesting to see the diversity of floor participants this year. Some of the usual participants are gone or smaller [e.g. Microsoft --Ed.], and you have the New York Times, United States Postal Service, and BMW taking over the whole parking lot. It's amazing how it has evolved."

????To its credit, CES has thrived despite not even delivering on one of its key selling points. "In the last five to seven years it has become as much a sales and marketing event as a geekfest with the brightest TVs," says Bob Borchers, the newly installed chief marketing officer of Dolby Laboratories (DLB). "It's been a steady evolution. Now it's as much a place to meet and be visible as an announcement stage. There's always been so much noise. It's a challenging place to launch new idea. But a great place to meet."???