CES is celebrating its 40th anniversary and the enthusiasm and energy are at its greatest levels ever. Why? Because for a 40 year old show, CES is still making headlines – and I’m not just talking about the latest in electronics or gadgets either. This year, CES recognized bloggers as legitimate media. Finally…a huge validation for citizen media.

This year, CES contracted the folks behind the behind Business Blogging Summit to screen and qualify bloggers for official media credentials. Why is this news you ask? Because finally, the masses are starting to realize the power, the frequency, and the instant ability for bloggers to break news and spark national and global conversations. And it’s not just because of any one blogger, it’s the ability to get many talking or “socializing” about topics, relaying the baton of information along every marketing demographic in the preverbal bell curve.

I’m attending CES this year with my press pass, and now I am officially recognized as a newsmaker for the information I will publish along with the hundreds of fellow bloggers. The blogosphere will roar with thunder from CES, and exhibitors will enjoy a newfound sense of greater online visibility not possible in prior years.

Andy Abramson of VoIPWatch labeled it, “The New Instant Journalism” heralding our entrance into a new era of “just in time” distribution of news content. J.D. Lasica’s Social Media blog also captured the value of “instant” publishing. Giovanni Rodriguez befittingly called it “the new rat pack” – which is so money and so Vegas.

Good friend, Jeremy Pepper, called for tradeshow organizers to follow in CES’ footsteps and get smart about letting in the good bloggers and vetting out those just trying to get a press pass.

Pepper continues, “But, the reality is that the old media, mainstream media, still has influence and stories that will not be covered in a blog, and social media is bringing new eyes on events and news that was missing.”

CES is a convergence of media, traditional and social. It’s no longer only the traditional media’s role in journalism to break news from the CES show floor anymore. Bloggers will now help spread the word, and in many cases, with a greater sense of immediacy, passion, and socialization.

The evolution in the media landscape also requires PR to adapt in its outreach strategies. Now’s the time to engage bloggers as well as journalists and analysts. But do us a favor first, read the blog to get a sense of what we write about and why we should cover your product/company.

Kudos to CES for paving the way for the rest of the events to follow, and more importantly, for recognizing the importance of citizen media and the value we bring to show exhibitors.

Tags: CES07 futureworks bloggerparty cesbloggers ces2007 lasvegas las+vegas ces jd+lasica social media social+media socialmedia bloggers citizen+media citizen brian+solis pr pr2.0 public+relations publicrelations citizenmedia jeremy+pepper giovanni+rodriguez andy+abramson voipwatch