- Title: Global tech show CES leaves Las Vegas to go virtual due to COVID-19
- Date: 12th January 2021
- Summary: VELIZY-VILLACOUBLAY, FRANCE (JANUARY 11, 2021) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF CARMAT ARTIFICIAL HEART BEATING INSIDE TESTING MACHINE PUMP ON MACHINE MOVING ARTIFICIAL HEART BEATING INSIDE MACHINE, PUMP MOVING CARMAT LOGO ON TROPHY CARMAT TROPHY / ARTIFICIAL HEART VARIOUS OF ARTIFICIAL HEART VARIOUS OF CARMAT CEO, STEPHANE PIAT, SPEAKING (SOUNDBITE) (French) CARMAT CEO, STEPHANE PIAT
- Embargoed: 26th January 2021 00:28
- Keywords: CES COVID-19 Las Vegas coronavirus internet technology show virtual
- Location: REDMOND, WASHINGTON AND LAS VEGAS, NEVADA, UNITED STATES/INTERNET
- City: REDMOND, WASHINGTON AND LAS VEGAS, NEVADA, UNITED STATES/INTERNET
- Country: USA
- Topics: Science,United States,Internet / World Wide Web
- Reuters ID: LVA005DURGZT3
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: CES, the biggest global tech and gadget show held every January in Las Vegas, kicked off its virtual event on Monday (January 11), after announcing it would be online-only in 2021 due to concerns over the coronavirus pandemic.
"CES has shifted from a physical show with a little digital to a digital event, purely digital and no physical, because, obviously, of COVID, and we want to be part of the solution, not the problem," Gary Shapiro, chief executive of the Consumer Technology Association, said.
Shapiro said the response from exhibitors to the virtual event had been positive.
"We were hoping to get a thousand companies that were willing to be part of this experiment with us, and we have over 1,800," he said.
The annual event has been an important venue for technology companies and buyers to meet to conduct business and Shapiro said he expected that cooperation to continue in the online space.
"Companies have to deal with each other. They have to go outside. And that's what CES has been so good at. It's getting those different verticals together," he said. "And that's what we try to preserve with CES 2021, to allow that to occur."
CES is the biggest annual event in Las Vegas and cancellation was a blow to the city, where hotel prices soar and roads clog with traffic during the event. According to the CTA, CES 2020 had an estimated 170,000 attendees, including 60,000 international attendees.
One benefit of the virtual event has been an increase in the number of international attendees.
Shapiro said, while he was enjoying the online experience, he looked forward to getting back to Las Vegas next year, for a hybrid CES that he said will incorporate a digital experience.
"It'll be better in person and I will be there in 2022 in Las Vegas, looking forward to the CES," he said.
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