Prowling The Grounds At CeBIT

A view of Hall 1 at CeBIT, the original site of the show and at one time, one of the largest buildings on Earth. Hall 1 wasn't in use during CeBIT 2008, but swarms of legends swirl around the building and its rich history. See those boxy looking structures on the roof? They used to be apartments that executives from exhibiting companies would use during the conference. Word has it that things got pretty wild up there, with all kinds of late night partying and carousing.

The CeBIT fairgrounds are a sprawling expanse of cavernous conference halls and futuristic looking buildings. The venue is commonly believed to contribute to more foot blisters than any other conference hall in the world.

The Planet Reseller pavilion was jam packed throughout the event with channel partners of all stripes, and was sponsored by Everything Channel's German CRN subsidiary.

Dr. Sven-Michael Pruser, senior vice president of Deutsche Messem, the organization that runs CeBIT, emphasized the green IT theme of the show in a pre-conference meeting with members of the press.

Hanover in March offers a mixed bag weatherwise, and at several points during the show conference attendees were forced to run for cover as the skies opened and rain, hail, and snow pelted down.

Of all the modern architecture to be found at CeBIT, the convention center easily takes the cake as the most visually striking -- and is also the one building that most closely resembles a UFO.

Hall 10 at CeBIT was home to the green IT village, where companies did battle to show conference attendees that their companies were far more environmentally aware and energy conscious than their competitors.

This square building appears to have been designed by the Hungarian sculptor and professor of architecture Ern' Rubik, but that couldn't be confirmed at press time.

Storm clouds are gathering on the horizon, as the IT industry faces a slowdown in technology spending. But you wouldn't have known that from walking through the hectic and jam packed conference halls at CeBIT.

Hall 26, where mobile vendors showed off their wares, is one of the most curious structures on the Hanover fairgrounds, an effect that's greatly enhanced by these off grass pyramids, which no one seemed to know what were designed for.

The International Design Forum at CeBIT was a good place to while away a few hours and check out some of the latest technological advancements.

The Hanover Messe train station is the main transport hub for CeBIT, and while it may look empty in this photo, it was an absolute madhouse in the mornings and afternoons.