In January 2020, when CES was held offline for the last time, news about COVID-19 circulated around the world. Only two months later, these scattered reports have become a real global pandemic, canceling many public events around the world, and fueling speculation about whether there is still a chance for huge trade shows to be held.
But now, nearly two years later, the Consumer Technology Association is determined to prove these predictions wrong. After being fully held online in 2021, CES will return to the Las Vegas Convention Center from January 5th to 8th, attracting exhibitors, attendees and media from all over the world. Jean Foster, CTA’s senior vice president of marketing and communications, predicts that the technology industry is ready to meet again. This is the organization’s two CES preview events held in Amsterdam and Paris last week (there will be another in New York next month) and feedback from the entire industry. “We are very happy to return to the live event,” she said. “This is an opportunity for people to go back and do business.”
However, although the international borders have begun to reopen and the lethality of the Delta virus under the action of the vaccine has diminished, the pandemic may continue to restrict some international tourists from entering the United States. And for those who can’t participate, or just don’t like to travel, CTA announced a new cloud-based digital platform on Tuesday to experience the exhibition and conduct the most important communication from a distance.
CES, which was first held more than half a century ago, has long been the first event in the technology industry and one of the largest trade shows in the world. In 2019, the show attracted 175,000 people and 4,400 exhibiting companies. Like other industry events, it is largely a place for closing deals, forming partnerships and peddling company products. However, for the media and the public outside the conference center, it is also a window to understand the next development in the field of science and technology. Although some imaginative products have never appeared on the store shelves, other products disclosed at the gorgeous launch event have penetrated into our homes. DVD, firstXboxAnd the global domination promoted by Netflix all debuted at CES.
The scale of the exhibition in 2022 will be smaller than in the years before the pandemic. Approximately 1,200 exhibitors will participate, including Google, LG, Panasonic, Qualcomm,SamsungAnd Sony – and there will definitely be changes. The CTA will require those attending the conference to be vaccinated against COVID-19, will follow state and local mask guidelines, and create larger public spaces to allow social distancing.
Since this is the first possible face-to-face pan-technical exchange between some people in the past two years, the platform and its supporting applications will provide exhibitors with more than one way to meet. If they are not able to talk in person, they can arrange a video chat.
Other features include a recommendation engine, which will recommend events and exhibitors based on the areas of interest stated by the attendees, and be able to watch videos of the company introducing its products. All of this will become part of CES in the next few years.
CES 2022 Media Day will be held from Monday, January 3 to Tuesday, January 4, and the exhibition site will be open from Wednesday, January 5 to Saturday, January 8.
