CES (Consumer Electronics Show), the annual consumer technology conference held by the Consumer Technology Association (CTA) will move to an all-digital experience for CES 2021 which is currently scheduled to take place between January 6-9, 2021. CES is by far, the largest consumer technology expos in the world aside from COMPUTEX. The show, which is held in Las Vegas every year, sees some of the largest product unveils and launches of said year. Earlier this year, CES ASIA which takes place in Shanghai every year in June was indefinitely postponed. Other noteworthy major tech shows that have been postponed or switched to a digital format this year include NVIDIA GTC, COMPUTEX 2020, Game Developers Conference 2020, SIGGRAPH20, MWC 2020, Google I/O, Facebook F8, Adobe Summit and AWS Summit.
"Amid the pandemic and growing global health concerns about the spread of COVID-19, it's just not possible to safely convene tens of thousands of people in Las Vegas in early January 2021 to meet and do business in person,” said Gary Shapiro, president and CEO, CTA. “Technology helps us all work, learn and connect during the pandemic — and that innovation will also help us reimagine CES 2021 and bring together the tech community in a meaningful way. By shifting to an all-digital platform for 2021, we can deliver a unique experience that helps our exhibitors connect with existing and new audiences."
Exhibiting at CES or attending CES, for that matter, is no joke. CES Exhibitors vie for prime real-estate on the show-floor a whole year in advance. Even attendees have to plan their trips months in advance if they are to secure flight tickets and hotel rooms at reasonable prices. While the move to an all-digital format will certainly make things easier for attendees, it will affect exhibitors adversely since digital events can never match up to their physical avatars, at least not any of the digital conferences we’ve been to have held a candle to their physical counterparts.
CES 2021 in the new digital format is scheduled to be held on January 6-9, 2021. However, CTA has stated that CES 2022 will return to Las Vegas in the same old physical format. The main show floors at CES are restricted to journalists, analysts and trade partners, and even that doesn’t help much with the overcrowding. Aside from the overcrowding, there are simultaneous events happening at CES which adds a whole new dimension to the show. Major exhibitors often coordinate with each other so as to not have overlaps but the little guys always have to go the extra mile to get any airtime. It would be interesting to see who exhibitors and attendees manage with everything moving online.