After every CTIA, I typically write up a list of the coolest things I saw at the show. Usually, the list includes a gadget or two, an application or game, and a nifty accessory. After CTIA IT & Entertainment ended on Friday, I decided to switch it up, and instead, list all the things I didn’t see while in San Francisco. The change of mind has nothing to do with not seeing cool things, however, it did seem this year’s show emphasized discussion and deep-thinking, rather than keynotes jam-packed with announcements. The conversations ranged from the panel of carrier CEOs, who addressed the idea of openness, and the Q&A with veteran wireless execs Craig McCaw and John Stanton, who mulled regulation and the role of carriers to be more than a dumb pipe, Adobe’s CEO Shantanu Narayen, who called for defragmentation of the industry, and even a panel on what teens think. Even more so, it seemed like a ton of the announcements during the show were incremental and revolved around applications or services partnering with advertising networks as a way to monetize what they are doing on the phone.

But back to the matter at hand. Like I said, here’s what I didn’t see, after the jump

—Apple: Although the company is increasingly invested in mobile, it doesn’t participate in the wireless industry trade show. To my knowledge it has never had a booth, nor ever participated in a keynote or panel. This year’s CTIA was no different. However, it did seem to acknowledge the event a little bit when it made its new iPod announcements on Monday, the pre-conference day of the show. Not only was the timing coincidental, but the company held the event in San Francisco—not Cupertino—and it was a couple blocks away from the Moscone Center, making it easy for reporters to dart in between both.

—Google: Google (NSDQ: GOOG) has participated in CTIA in the past, but this year, there was no sign of the company from the show floor to the panel discussions. That strikes me as a bit odd given the number of phone applications it has out in the market and since Android is being revealed next week. To be sure, Google execs were roaming the floor to meet with various companies, but there wasn’t a booth. That didn’t stop the company from announcing on its blog, during the week, that it unveiled a new suite of applications for BlackBerry that among other things promised faster search, but it wasn’t tied to CTIA.

— Startups: Some of the more hyped and talked about startups were also nowhere to be found—and if they were there it was on an individual basis and not making their presence known. To be sure, there was a lot of competition last week. TechCrunch was hosting its event, and there was also the Demo in San Diego. Companies that made my list of not being seen nor heard from include Qik and Twitter. “The bang for the buck was significantly better at TechCrunch than having a booth at CTIA,” said Bhaskar Roy, co-founder of Qik, which is developing a live-mobile streaming company. At TechCrunch, Qik built a lounge area in conjunction with Microsoft (NSDQ: MSFT), where they had live demos of Qik on flat panel TVs and demonstrations of Microsoft’s Surface. Roy said that kind of exposure just wasn’t possible at CTIA. One company that did make it to CTIA was a company called Swipe, even though they chose TechCrunch to come out of stealth mode. CEO Mike McSherry said: “As a central meeting time spot for the global OEM community we HAVE to be here [CTIA].”