07/29/2020

Daily Buzz: CES Goes All-digital in 2021

Tech events are doing all they can to circumvent COVID-19

CES, widely acknowledged as the largest and one of the most influential tech events in the world, will go fully digital in 2021 due to health and safety concerns related to COVID-19, the Consumer Technology Association (CTA) announced Tuesday.

The first week in January usually sees hordes of tech exhibitors and attendees convene in Las Vegas to see behemoths like Microsoft, Google, and Samsung unveil and promote new products. The 2020 show drew more than 170,000 people.

Previously, CTA had been planning a hybrid event with an in-person element, which drew attention after The Verge reported the news in June. But, with concerns about COVID-19 still strong, CTA is taking the event fully virtual for the first time.

“For CES, the pandemic gives us an opportunity to reimagine how we use our platform to bring our community together in a meaningful way and enable our exhibitors to meet their customers and to reach new audiences,” said CTA president and CEO Gary Shapiro in a video released by the association. “Our exhibitors, partners and thought leaders will now have the time to plan, to think [and] to create compelling ways to engage digital audiences from around the world.”

Shapiro said CTA is planning for an in-person show in 2022. Earlier this year, CTA retired its fledgling CES Asia conference, which launched in 2015 and had been an annual event.

Please select this link to read the original article from Associations Now.