The entrance to CES Unveiled at the Sands Convention Center in Las Vegas

As readers of this blog know, I was very much looking forward last night's CES Unveiled press preview, for reasons both professional and social. The social aspect didn't disappoint, as I was able to reconnect with journalists I already knew (among them, PC Magazine's Brian Bennett and the San Jose Mercury News' Dean Takahashi) and meet some writers whom I only knew from their bylines (like Reuters' Scott Hillis and Fortune's Jon Fortt). Professionally speaking, however, the 2008 edition of CES Unveiled was a bust, a sentiment that was echoed by most of the journalists I compared notes with. Especially when compared to last year's event.

I can usually count on CES Unveiled for five or so products worth mentioning, but after making a leisurely sweep of the crowded room, I found that I'd only bothered to jot down notes on four gadgets and services, of which only two held up to the harsh light of day subsequent Internet research. My guess is that a lot of companies were holding back the good stuff for today's press conferences. But if the CES organizers don't want next year's event to turn into a ghost town, they really ought to prevail upon their members to throw us a bone and show a more interesting lineup.