Las Vegas Review-Journal (Sunday)
Virtual CES to kick off — minus show, crowds in Las Vegas
Attendees log in next week, as the show can’t go on in Las Vegas
If anyone’s been hurt by this, it’s Las Vegas itself, and we are sad for our friends and people who make the physhappen.’ ical show Gary Shapiro President and CEO, Consumer Technology Association
For the people who usually attend CES, the 2021 version of the show that runs Monday through Thursday should be in their comfort zone in front of a computer screen.
But for the hosts — convention facilities across Southern Nevada — it’s a missed opportunity and the loss of millions of dollars.
Thanks to the spread of COVID-19, CES won’t be like anything anyone has ever seen before and instead will be completely digital and online.
The event that in years past has seen the introduction of videocassette recorders, satellite radio and high-definition televisions won’t be bringing the more than 180,000 people to Las Vegas resorts for the largest annual trade show of the year. Instead, attendees will be logging on from their computers to virtually visit more than 1,000 exhibitors and tune in to keynote speeches delivered by industry titans.
As in the past, CES will be open to qualified representatives of technology industries
and not the public. The price of admission has gone up from $100 to $149 to cover the cost of a Microsoft-manufactured platform to accommodate the thousands who will log on to the show.
The shoulder-to-shoulder crowds at the Las Vegas Convention Center, Sands Expo Center, Mandalay Bay Convention Center and other meeting venues will be replaced by people comfortably in their homes in their pajamas or their offices.
“It’s really not the same as meeting face to face,” said Gary Shapiro, president and CEO of the sponsoring Consumer Technology Association.
“If anyone’s been hurt by this, it’s Las Vegas itself, and we are sad for our friends and people who make the physical show happen,” he said. “We want to be there with them in 2022, and we certainly plan to be.”
The association already has announced dates for the 2022 show, Jan. 5-8, but added that a virtual version of it will occur simultaneously.
The first day of CES 2021 will be devoted to the media with news conferences scheduled all day Monday
Tuesday events
Here’s what’s in store at CES 2021 when it kicks off for show attendees on Tuesday:
■ More than 1,000 exhibitors are participating, offering products and services related to artificial intelligence, 5G communications technology, digital health, smart cities and vehicle tech.
■ A wide range of exhibitors will be showing products and will be available for virtual appointments through Thursday. Technology giants Canon, Hisense, Intel, Lenovo, LG Electronics, Panasonic, Philips, Sony, Samsung Electronics, TCL and Voxx and nontraditional tech companies Bridgestone, Caterpillar, Indy Autonomous Challenge, John Deere, L’Oreal and Procter & Gamble will exhibit.
■ Verizon Communications CEO Hans Vestberg will kick off a series of keynote addresses beginning Monday with a presentation on 5G technology. The association has
added Best Buy CEO Corie Barry to its keynote address lineup in an interview format with Fortune CEO Alan Murray. Other keynoters will include General Motors CEO Mary Barra, Advanced Micro Devices CEO Lisa Su and WarnerMedia Chairwoman Ann Sarnoff.
■ The association already revealed its 2021 Innovation Award honorees across 28 product categories. Honorees recognized as Best of Innovation are given to those rated highest across the product categories by a panel of judges that include members of the media, designers and engineers that reviewed submissions based on innovation, engineering and functionality, aesthetics and design.
Reno exhibitor
Among the exhibitors at this year’s CES is Reno-based CareWear, a wearable sports medicine light system that uses photobiomodulation to treat pain and improve tissue recovery. It’s a flexible Mylar patch filled with red and blue LED lights to decrease pain, increase local circulation, warm tissue and relax muscles, he said.
CareWear CEO Chris Castel said he has been looking forward to this year’s show because the company is planning to go from a specialized product used by athletes on professional sports teams to all consumers,
and he’s looking forward to meeting with medical distributors.
“We exhibited at CES last year and were looking forward to meeting and showing our product in our efforts to make it more widely available,” Castel said.
Castel said he thinks he’s prepared to transition to an online-only show and has the technology in place to meet with people, but he was looking forward to allowing people to see and feel his products in person.
“It’s definitely going to be different, but I think we’re ready,” he said.
Time zone hurdles
One of the challenges of hosting a virtual event to a global audience is accommodating attendees in different time zones. Barra’s General Motors keynote speech will at 9 a.m. EST on Tuesday. That’s 6 a.m. on the West Coast or 10 p.m. in Beijing and Shanghai.
But because the event is virtual, the association said it would make most of the presentations available on demand for registered attendees almost immediately after the event with content kept on its website through Feb. 15.