What's Not to Like

If you're connected to the trade show world . . . well, actually, if you can fog a mirror . . . you know about CES. Those of us that organize trade shows can't help but have a smidge of CES envy. After all, it is the largest annual trade show in North America and one of the few shows produced in the U.S. that can boast of being among the largest in the world - with a staggering 3,500+ exhibitors and an expected audience of 130,000 from across the tech world spectrum. Shout out to Gary Shapiro and the great #CES team. What you do, and have done, with CES is nothing short of amazing. There used to be multiple major tech-related trade shows in the U.S., many fairly large. Now, by and large, CES stands in their place.

And the show is happening this week, so it seems appropriate to take a minute to reflect on what makes this show so unique and successful. There are lessons to be learned there. Yes, it's just cool . . . sitting at the center of a very cool industry. Who isn't interested in foldable phones, transparent TV's, smart home tech, robots, and yes - Ai. Everyone can relate to tech and tech gadgets, small to large. Heck, this show even comes packed with its own auto show, with over 250 exhibitors. That's an impressive trade show all by itself.

So, what has driven the phenomenon that is CES. I have a few thoughts (as always, interested in thoughts from others):

• Massive media attention - I am not sure what the official number is now, but this show has routinely delivered in the neighborhood of 5,000 - qualified -- media representatives. All the major tech-related publications are there, plus most, if not all, of the top tier business publications. This doesn't happen by accident. The CES team has cultivated this over many years, added preview events around the world to build coverage, and ensured that the media in attendance have a great experience. This is not easy to replicate in aggregate, as most of us don't have the consumer-side appeal that CES does to attract those national and business press folks. But the formula -- focus on building relationships, telling a compelling "media-ready" story, tying other media events and opportunities in and then ensuring the on-site experience is a good one . . . all work for any show in the business.
• Adjacency, or reimagining your universe - this is the incredibly smart thing they have done. In the beginning, CES was the "Consumer Electronics Show," and as you would expect was about consumer electronics. Nice, interesting, fairly cool. It was more or less about everything you might see when walking into a Best Buy or Fry's store. And retailers were the power buyers in attendance. Over time though, the CES team began identifying adjacencies in markets that overlapped with this core - in areas like health and sports tech, even space tech; and as the tech evolved, those moves more and more started to transform the show into something that went beyond just being a gadget show. It became a full-blown tech expo, with a scope that is not just vast, but almost hard to comprehend - for what is not tied to, infused with or outright considered "tech" these days. Automobiles at a tech show? Who would have thought. Brilliant strategy, and the way that all organizers should be thinking about their shows and how they can evolve. Find the audiences, the exhibitor bases that touch and overlap your core. We build from the center out, thinking concentric circles. It's actually exciting and fun to look at our shows this way. It opens up the thinking.
• Making it an "event" - and I don't mean event in the literal sense of the word, I mean it in the context of creating something that can't miss; that has such a heartbeat and such a buzz, and that is exhilarating and memorable in some way. It is FOMO. The Super Bowl is an event. The World Cup is an event. Coachella is an event. CES is an event. There are many aspects to what organizers do that can help drive this dynamic. Some of it ties back to the media side, but it also ties to marketing, execution, creativity. Thinking out of the box and delivering a true experience for your audience. The other dynamic that CES has rolled in is . . . uhhh . . . not my favorite word to describe it, but festivalization? In this case that is manifested in how the show has added not just new categories, but new programs that are produced in various locations throughout Las Vegas. In somewhat SXSW fashion this event now takes over much of Las Vegas - at least from the convention center down the Strip and out to Mandalay Bay. This gives the event an additional element of scale, and also a tougher to define characteristic of variety. Not the right word either, but there is a natural appeal to the all-you-can-eat buffet (weak Vegas reference) where there is more there than you could ever consume, but you like having the choice and the ability to sample and go back for seconds. CES offers that, and it adds to the FOMO. With all of that happening, there has to be something there for me, right? Again, I love this. This is another strategy that is tough to replicate entirely, but all shows can consider how they create an experience for their audience that extends beyond a traditional expo floor. We used to be obsessed with getting and keeping people on the expo floor, to the exclusion of everything else. It works. But people want an end-to-end experience and that includes what they do before and after their time on the expo floor. Think how much more memorable your event would be if you are not just delivering ROI for participants during the show floor hours, but you are surprising them with something else - something more, outside of the convention center.

I am on the box a bit here, so will end with again recognizing the fabulous job the CES team does on the show. All of us should set aside the envy and appreciate the inspiration the show represents, for if you need any further evidence that face-to-face events work you need look no further than what is happening this week in CES.