MVP Lead PJ Forgione Talks CES 2011

MVP Lead  PJ Forgione has written this guest post about his time at CES 2011.

MVPs and other industry leaders swamped Las Vegas recently
for CES 2011. US community program manager, Jake
Grey,  and I saw this as a great opportunity to join the teeming
masses of 140,000 attendees and gain a glimpse into where the future of
consumer technologies is heading and how community is likely to evolve as the
technology does.

Jake and I spent time with Microsoft product team members and
members of the broader consumer community, as well as really getting the
opportunity to connect with MVPs. We were able to gather feedback and measure
community excitement both at the expo hall and during informal settings
throughout the week. It was great to see
Steve Ballmer’s keynote announcing Avatar Kinect, Kinect integration with
Netflix and Hulu, Windows Phone, Xbox Games, the next version of Surface and be there to hear the
community’s enthusiastic response.

I got to sit in on the Entertainment Matters panel where
Microsoft VP Mich Mathews shared her insights along with other industry execs
about how marketing is helping to shape innovation in the consumer
industry. 

I also sat down with Trent
McMurray, of the newly launched and
community-run Windows Phone
Concierge website, to discuss the evolving spaces in which the Windows
Phone community participates – such as Windows
Phone on MSAnswers and the newly launched New York City Windows Phone User
Group. Check out the video below: 

I also had the opportunity to catch up with Windows Phone MVP Johan Van Mierlo. He talked to me about the WP7 community and the New York Windows Phone User Group!

I am looking forward to catching up with more MVPs at this year’s MVP Global Summit!