On the Road to CES

I’m on the long trek from Tampa to Las Vegas to attend the annual CES.

In previous years, CES was called the Consumer Electronics Show. In another year, it was called CES International. Now the Consumer Technology Association, which runs the show, just calls it CES.

Despite its name, consumers don’t attend the show. It’s for technology makers to show to the industry, including retailers and distributors, what they have created and what can be expected to be marketed to consumers during the next year.

In many ways, CES is the tech trend setting show for the year. Due to covid, last year’s event?drew around 45,000 attendees, making the city manageable for travel, since the expo long ago expanded well beyond the Las Vegas Convention Center to numerous hotels throughout the city.

This year, 100,000 attendees are expected, a large crowd but still not reaching the pre-covid levels.

Two Media Days precede the actual CES, where thousands of journalists from around the world are given a first-hand, early look from the major technology companies, most making their top executives available.

By time the actual show opens on Thursday, journalists already will have witnessed all the major tech announcements.

There are three main media events: a full day of press conferences by major companies including Bosch, Samsung, Canon, Valeo, Hisense, Panasonic and Hyundai; CES Unveiled, boasting a room full of tech companies displaying their wares; and Pepcom, the primo (and always my favorite) event for journalists only, where innovators and savvy tech companies privately display their tech and meet one-on-one with journalists.

Each CES typically has been dominated by a main theme. One year it was voice, as in Alexa and Siri, another year it was artificial intelligence.

It looks like much of the focus this time around will be on connected vehicles, with the West Hall, the current home, a sellout and also one of the areas I plan to spend some serious time on.

The other hot area is Eureka Park, the lower level of the Venetian Hotel convention area, where the newest and some of the most innovative startups are launched. This is where various geographies, such as Korea and France, aggregate many of their local startups in one location.

CES is always at the beginning of the year and a few days from now, the world will see what technology is in store for them for the year.

Now, to see if there are any surprises at this CES.