CES organizers say they explored scores of virtual conference technologies to try to recreate the electronics show that traditionally resides in Las Vegas every January, but won’t be held in person in 2021, for obvious reasons. One concept they considered, but dismissed, was virtual reality, where attendees could visit a digital convention center through avatars.
The CES team took a simpler approach with an online conference powered by Microsoft technology that will make it easier to call up conference sessions and keynotes, and schedule meetings. On Tuesday, executives from the Consumer Technology Association showed off the basic concept for how they plan to pull off CES without Las Vegas, and they justified the prices they set for attendees ($149) and exhibitors (starting at about $1,200) based on the 100-plus hours of programming.
Gary Shapiro, president and CEO of the CTA, told media at a virtual press event that the nonprofit group invested “in the seven figures” to build the online conference. This is the first time in the event’s 54-year history that it won’t be in Las Vegas, because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Shapiro talked up the benefits of the online affair, while acknowledging it won’t have the same pizzazz as Vegas. “They didn’t want avatars going around exhibits,” Shapiro said, referring to the feedback the CTA received from customers while planning CES 2021. “We were able to re-imagine a show, get away from this concept going physically from exhibit to exhibit, and allow the advantages of digital to be there, where you could go in a more logical way, without tired feet.”