Intl. CES Takes Vegas by Storm

Las Vegas— The long lines at Intl. CES were familiar, but the snow was a little different. And seeing as the Jan. 6–9 tradeshow broke records for attendance, exhibitors and net square footage, it's a good thing that the trade-show's producer, the Consumer Electronics Assn., is among the exhibition industry's best at planning ahead.

As they waited up to an hour for everything from a cab to a cup of coffee, many of the gadget enthusiasts expressed awe at the masses of people around them, but few complained about anything other than the unusual cold and rain that kept attendees shoulder-to-shoulder inside the Las Vegas Convention Center, Las Vegas Hilton Hotel and Alexis Park Resort Las Vegas.

"This is the coldest CES I've ever been to," remarked a six-time attendee from research firm Edward Jones, summarizing the surprise of many underdressed visitors from the East and Midwest, who rubbed their crossed arms to stay warm as they waited to get inside the LVCC.

Due to remnants of a Pacific storm, temperatures on Jan. 7–8 peaked in the 40s. On the morning of the 7th, snow was spotted falling on the Las Vegas Strip, and rain fell on the city throughout the rest of the day.

This year's show featured 2,550 exhibiting companies sprawling over 1,531,000 net sq. ft. at the three venues, including two pavilions spanning a lot in front of the LVCC. That was up from the 2,491 exhibiting companies that spanned 1,390,618 net sq. ft. during the 2004 show.

According to initial estimates, subject to independent audit, attendance was 142,585. That's more than 20,000 above CEA's estimates for this year's show and 13,500 above last year's turnout. International attendance grew to more than 23,028, up from 18,000 at the 2004 CES.

Not surprisingly, the show felt — and looked — crammed, said Karen Chupka, CEA vice president of meetings and events. "As a tradeshow organizer, you try to plan for as many things as you can, and, obviously, we couldn't expect this weather."

But CEA worked hard to prepare for just about everything else. The association this year implemented changes to make it easier to move around the showfloor, reduce shuttle bus waits and prepare for the show's expansion next year to the Sands Expo & Convention Center.

A new color-coding system told visitors their location and also linked products in that area with sessions and events taking place elsewhere. Specific product category icons detailed the system.

The color codes were integrated into the existing network of interactive kiosks. Besides the usual pull-out paper maps in the show guide, CES product locator and "You are Here" stations, kiosks peppered the hall, making it nearly impossible to walk 100 feet without stumbling into a navigational aide.

Outside the hall, said Chupka, the focus was on making the shuttle-bus system more efficient. CEA increased the number of shuttles, reconfigured routes, put terminals at additional spots around the convention center and closed off parking lots to outside traffic. On opening day, lines for shuttles rarely were seen exceeding a dozen people.

Also helping alleviate shuttle lines was the Las Vegas Monorail, which reopened Dec. 24 after a three-month closure. The light-rail train carried 250 passengers per train, with six of its eight trains running the length of the Strip route every 15 minutes. Attendees packed the monorail in hopes of avoiding the long lines, high fares and stop-and-start rides offered by taxis. Monorail officials agreed to start service an hour early at 7 a.m., to help with the CES traffic, Chupka noted.

To make getting around even easier, CEA sent attendees daily planner e-mails that gave the who, where and when of show highlights like keynote speeches and product launches.

But none of these techniques would work if people didn't use them, and CES' greatest asset might be its savvy attendees. For years, they've downloaded conference schedules to their PDAs and confirmed appointments via text messaging while show managers from other industries struggle to get participants to read their e-mail.

"I think everyone who comes here already has a plan," said Jeff Austin, Comcast's senior director of product engineering and deployments for high-speed Internet. Austin, who's been to the show five times, said his strategy is to walk the exhibit floor just one day and make appointments ahead of time to fill the rest of his schedule.

On the other end of the spectrum are those like Jon Alway, sales manager of retail services for Azego Technology Services. Alway said he thinks the show should be longer — a week at least — since four days isn't enough to see all it has to offer.

It's understandable that the large turnout is appreciated by exhibitors like LG Electronics, which made its U.S. debut in 2004 and its big splash at CES this year. The company rented about 18,000 net sq. ft. to showcase its 71-inch plasma screens, but Scott Burns, LG's Northeast regional account manager, said the real value of such high attendance was the opportunity to meet potential new reps and build a loyal network of dealers.

Alway believes the electronics buyers he represents want the show to keep growing too. "For so long, the computer industry rode on the backs of electronics manufacturers," he explained. "Now, with the saturation of the PC market, the two industries have basically merged."

Citing Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates' keynote speech as evidence, Alway argued that CES must keep growing to keep pace with developments in computer electronics.

Some at CES speculated that the show benefited from the postponement of 2004's COMDEX, once Microsoft's biggest show, which used to take place just a couple months before CES in Las Vegas.

But Chupka said CEA is working to avoid the pitfalls that led to the mega-computer show's demise; namely, unbridled growth.

"This year we put extra procedures in place to deny people credentials if we thought they weren't qualified to attend," she said. "We were afraid some of the consumers who used to come to COMDEX would come to CES and we didn't want that to happen."

While nearly everyone said that CES is a place where business gets done, far from the carnival that COMDEX became in the high-flying late-'90s, some agree with Chupka that growth must be controlled.

"It's getting too big," said Anthony Ramsaroop, president of Bluetooth Technologies, after waiting in line 45 minutes to get an autographed photo of Dallas Cowboys quarterback Troy Aiken.

And even a well-managed show like CES isn't immune to the dangers of a large, elaborate event. Carsten Aagesen, global marketing communications director for GN Mobile, pointed out that large, well-known companies benefit from the publicity generated by the 4,000-plus journalists at the show, but they might get more measurable sales returns from private, vertical events with dealers and prospects.