Among all the “industry firsts,” “game-changing products” and any other PR-infused announcements you can think of, there are a host of conference themes inherent in every telecom trade show. These include everything from companies promoting their new environmentally friendly products to giving consumers the flexibility to consume media anywhere, anytime and on any platform to complex products that satisfy a general need for simplicity. With the high expectations for news announcements at CTIA this year and a history of enthused keynote speakers touting their latest technologies, CTIA will also not fail to deliver on many trade show staples that attendees have come to appreciate and expect.

Feeling green. Green technologies are a favorite focus of late, whether it be in the form of encouraging telepresence, designing recyclable wireless phones, solar-powered accessories and energy efficicent product lines or biodegradable packing. At this year’s show, even CTIA itself will be going green. The trade show will feature recycling stations throughout the Las Vegas Convention Center for attendees to drop off old cell phones and accessories with proceeds going to the Call To Protect Program, which benefits domestic violence organizations. Bulky badges – reduced from three-parts to one – will also be recycled at the end of the conference.

Love for the enterprise. It’s easy to get excited about cool new consumer gadgets, but no good trade show ignores wireless’ loyal enterprise users. The five largest operators' move to offer $99 flat-rate unlimited plans will be a topic for dicussion, as well as the blending of the nine-to-five business user and weekends-and-evenings prosumer. Many analysts expect exhibitors to release lower-priced smart phones to appease these double-dipping users. Fixed/mobile convergence (FMC) and unified communications (UC), popular themes at last week’s VON.x conference, will also be revisited trends at CTIA.

Social Networking. Outside of cocktail receptions and after-hour parties, social networking is a fairly recent trade show theme, but one that has achieved increasing prominence as enthusiasists take it mobile. CTIA will be no different. Mobile social networking announcements concerning content and applications will be a hot topic as vendors leverage location-based services, messaging and content to create social networks that aren’t borrowed from the Web, but designed especially for the mobile handset.

New revenue generators.Although not a glamorous topic, the business models for wireless carriers facing declining voice streams and a weakening economy are as important as the technology itself. Whereas as last year’s show focused on the promise of mobile TV – a topic unlikely to attract much attention this year – and mobile applications, this year it is all about mobile advertising and wireless voice-over IP (VoIP).

Entertainment, please. Return appearances by legendary producer Quincy Jones or rapper Master P may not be in the cards for this year’s CTIA, but Mobile Entertainment Live!, a pre- conference hosted by Billboard, Hollywood Reporter and Nielsen Mobile is back on. Last year’s show brought out some of the music industry's biggest names to illustrate the wireless industry’s new role of media distribution platform. This year, the content of the conference may have to make up for a lack of exciting headliners. Beyonce’s dad, Matthew Knowles, president of Music World Entertainment, is the keynote for the event next Monday, March 31^st.

Stay tuned to see what really unfolds at the Las Vegas Convention Center during CTIA next week. Make sure to visit Telephony’s CTIA microsite for CTIA breaking news, trends, blogs and commentary.

Email me at sreedy@telephonyonline.com.