Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition

In reversal, CES gadget show to go digital in ’21

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NEW YORK — CES, one of the world’s biggest technology conference­s, will be a virtual event in January due to the coronaviru­s pandemic, a reversal from May when organizers said it would go on as a smaller gathering in Las Vegas.

The announceme­nt Tuesday is another setback for Las Vegas, which, like all other U.S. tourist destinatio­ns, is suffering as people stay home or vacation locally. More than 170,00 people attended the four-day show this year in January, before COVID-19 began to spread across the country.

In Nevada over the past two weeks, the rolling average number of daily new cases has increased 27%. The state ranks sixth in the country for new cases of COVID-19 per capita.

The pandemic has disrupted major tech events everywhere.

Europe’s biggest consumer electronic­s trade fair, Germany’s IFA, usually runs for six days and drew nearly 250,000 people last year. This year, it’s half that duration and there will be no public access to the event in September. Web Summit, a glitzy event in Portugal that features tech CEOs and celebritie­s, will be online this time. Organizers aim to still hold the conference in Lisbon in December but won’t make any final decisions until October.

Trade shows are a place where people network, try new gadgets or make a sale. But they’re also big business onto themselves, accounting for $2.5 trillion in global spending, according to the Events Industry Council. Much of that is likely to be lost when events go online.

The Consumer Technology Associatio­n, which organizes CES, had said in May that it planned to hold some events in Las Vegas next year, but the thinking changed as COVID-19 cases spiked around the world, CTA CEO Gary Shapiro said.

The four-day digital version of the CES gadget show begins Jan. 6.

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