Cover Feature
It has become a topic for
discussion and debate in the
exhibition industry – is it better
in the long run to be the giant
tanker, powering ahead on
its course, or the small, nippy
sailboat, able to quickly move
in whatever direction the
wind blows? And, to possibly
overstretch the metaphor, is it
more about the quality of the
experience you have on board?
Not to mention, how does the
CTA ensure that CES stays at the
very forefront of an industry as
fast-moving and ever-changing
industry as consumer tech?
To find out, EN sat down with
executive vice president Karen
Chupka to delve into the details
and take a peek behind the
scenes.
The entire ecosystem
“One of the benefits of CES is
that the show itself represents
so many different industries
and technologies,” Chupka
tells EN. “It’s the one place
where everybody can come
and see all of the ecosystem of
technologies. That gives us a lot
of opportunities to continually
build out new voices, bring in new
participants and create new areas
that help keep the show fresh and
exciting for everybody.”
When the show launched
in 1957 the world of consumer
technology was of course
drastically different to today.
In those days, says Chupka,
CES primarily consisted
of technologies like stereo
equipment, video equipment and
audio equipment, while CES 2019
covered everything from 5G,
augmented and virtual reality
and robots to healthcare tech and
agricultural equipment.
“Each year we look at trying
to have at least three new things
that we’re bringing into the
show,” continues Chupka. “If [the
technology] is in the early stages
“It’s the one place where
everybody can come and see all
of the ecosystem of technologies”
we may start with conference
programming, and then we
continue to build as the market
gets bigger with exhibits and
showcases on the floor.”
One of the relatively new
sectors for 2019 was the
world of tourism technology,
with Carnival Cruise Line in
attendance launching one of
the first ‘smart ships’ onto the
marketplace.
“This year we had about 100
different products that were
travel and tourism and potentially
now for 2020 we will look to
having something that’s a little
bit more of a focused, dedicated
area for tourism,” says Chupka.
“We’re looking at making sure
that we’re also promoting it to the
right attendee base, so that they
know this area is here at the show
and something they can come and
see.”
One of the striking stats from
CES 2019 is that international
visitors made up around 35
per cent of the visitor base (if
EN’s maths can be believed),
coming from between 150 and 155
countries.
“It’s unique in that it gives a
global perspective of how
Google tripled its presence for 2019
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