CES history: how an unknown event evolved into the largest technology exhibition

CES in 1982

The organization of exhibitions is an interesting and complex process involving a large number of specialists. Their well-coordinated and thoughtful work allows you to get a good result. But no one is immune from force majeure: at the last moment the speaker may refuse to speak or exhibitors will not have time to call in on time.

We, as an organizer with 12 years of experience, are well known: the main thing is that visitors should not notice problems with organizational issues. If, despite unforeseen situations, the guests were left with positive impressions of the exhibition, this best demonstrates the high level of professionalism of its organizer.

The longer the exhibition exists, the more various “backstage stories” it has accumulated, which are just as interesting to follow as the exhibitors. Therefore, we are starting a series of publications on events that have influenced the development of technology and technology. The first publication is devoted to the history of the formation of the CES - Consumer Electronics Show, organized by the Consumer Electronics Association.

From a small show to an industry leader

Today, the CES in Las Vegas occupies almost 20 hectares and includes enough technical innovations to fill 35 football fields.

However, the exhibition was not always so big. The first CES was held in New York in 1967. Then she was part of the popular festival Chicago Music Show. The organizers managed to attract only 14 companies, including Motorola, LG and Philips, and 17,500 visitors. The turn of 100,000 participants was overcome by 1984.


First CES, 1967


1969


1972: 40,000 people visited the exhibition

In 1990, the exhibition was visited by more than 1,600 journalists, which determined the future trend - since that time the number of media covering CES began to increase. Today, about 5,000 media representatives are present at the exhibition. This is twice the number of media covering the Olympic Games.

In the early 1990s, large Japanese players began to take part in CES en masse. For companies such as Sony, Toshiba, Panasonic, the exhibition has become the venue for the presentation of new products.


1980

Until 1998, the organizers did not have a specific date and venue for the exhibition. CES geography is constantly changing. Over the years, the exhibition was held in Philadelphia, Atlanta, Dallas. In 1994, for unknown reasons, the organizers decided to hold four exhibitions in one year - one in Las Vegas, two in Chicago and one in Mexico City.

The exhibition finally moved to Las Vegas in 1999. Since then, the scale of CES began to change - the number of not only visitors and participants, but also guest stars began to grow.


2005

By 2005, CES had become the largest technology exhibition in the world with 150,000 visitors. On the show began to speak the heads of major technology corporations. Among the visitors could meet high-ranking officials. For example, in 2015, CES was visited by the Minister of Economy, Industry and Digital Technologies of France, Emmanuel Macron (since 2017, the head of state).

“I first visited CES in 1976. Then it was just an exhibition of consumer electronics. Basically, audio, video and television. Computers have not yet been presented, only the most primitive game consoles. Changes at CES occurred in the late 1990s and early 2000s, when the largest computer exhibition Comdex began to experience difficulties. Back in the early 1990s, CES organizers tried to attract PC vendors to the show. But since the two exhibitions were held with a difference of 40 days, representatives of the computer industry preferred Comdex , ” writes Tim Bayarin, an analyst at Creative Strategies, a regular visitor to the exhibition.

According to him, only after Comdex was closed, the CES organizers managed to negotiate with the computer suppliers. As a result, the show has become an exhibition of consumer electronics and PCs. Gradually, smartphones, tablets, IoT devices, virtual and augmented reality, wearable gadgets were added to the components of the exhibition. With the development of blogs, broadcasts from the show were started by everyone, which allowed a wide audience around the world to receive the latest information on new products.

The global financial crisis of 2009 had a negative impact on the exhibition. That year attendance fell by 22%. Then for the first time there was talk about the "death of CES", which continues today.

In 2012, the exhibition of the porn industry AVN Adult Entertainment Expo decided to distance itself from the technology show. For a long period, two events were held simultaneously, almost in the neighboring streets. The “parting” of porn queens and technical geeks was negatively perceived by the latter.

2014 in the history of CES was marked by a new record : the number of visitors (about 160,000 people) exceeded the number of free housing in Las Vegas.

Apple boycott

Apple participated in CES only two times - in 1992 and 1993. Then the company showed Apple Newton - one of the first series of pocket personal computers.

The company explained the boycott that they can showcase their products around the world thanks to a wide network of retail stores. In addition, Apple has always had a great influence and budget for the presentation of its decisions, regardless of large technology exhibitions, where brands have to compete for the attention of the press. Later this example was followed by many companies, including Amazon, Samsung Electronics and Google, and began to present products at their own events.

Interestingly, the shadow of Apple has always been present at the show. Many companies presented products for the iPhone or iPad, such as cases, columns or applications.

Booth babes and sexism

For more than 20 years, CES has been at the epicenter of disputes over the participation of “Booth babes” - photo models or hostesses.


Booth babes in 1967

Models appeared at the first CES in 1967. Then they were called "CES Guides". They handed out promotional products, being close to the exhibitors. Their distinctive feature from the modern "booth babes" was a modest outfit. Semi-naked hostesses appeared only in 1979.

The first criticism regarding the participation of booth babes was heard in the 1990s in the pages of the publication Network World. The main complaint is the lack of product knowledge.

The peak of indignation came in 2013, when, during the presentation of accessories for Apple from Hyper, female models, dressed only in paint and thongs, called on people to share photos with the hashtag #getmore.

Gary Shapiro, general director of the Consumer Technology Association, said in an interview: “This is a bit old-fashioned, but it works. People go where it's beautiful. ”

According to Cool Mom Tech co-publisher Liz Gambinner, booth babes are unlikely to disappear in the near future with CES: “Brands are looking for any opportunity to attract attention, and a visual spectacle is part of it. Hiring young girls and putting on cheerleaders or sexy nurses for them to take photos with visitors is much cheaper than hiring a celebrity. ”

Google Marketing Director Lorraine Michill urged CES organizers to abandon the practice with booth babes. “It is absolutely not necessary. People come to CES to do business, ”she said .


Strippers robots at CES 2018. Read more

Another problem CES has faced is accusations of sexism. The vast majority of the speakers are men. The number of women among the speakers is 25%, while there are no women among headliners. In this regard, some companies intend to boycott the exhibition.

The leaders of the Consumer Technology Association, which consists of CES, have promised to add more women speakers in 2019. However, according to them, their efforts can be in vain, because according to the organization’s policy, only presidents or CEOs of companies are considered headlining. And in most cases these are men.

Unexpected situations

As the scale of the event grows from year to year, the challenges that organizers face are growing. In addition to the traditional tech riders for each participant and to ensure the proper conditions for the presentations, you need to be prepared for various force majeure.

For example, on the last day of the exhibition in 2017, criminals stole prototypes of the newest three-screen laptop from the Razer stand. Representatives of the company offered a reward of $ 25,000 to anyone who reports on their whereabouts. What happened to the laptops further is unknown. Probably, they were never found. One of them allegedly showed up in a Chinese online store (the question is whether it was true the Razer laptop). But the hype rose noble, and the company was charged that the story of theft - just another pr-move.


Announcement of the sale of the stolen laptop Razer

The following year, CES 2018 was waiting for a blackout - torrential rains put out of operation one of the transformers, and therefore the electronics exhibition was left without light for two hours. The security service was forced to evacuate most visitors. The incident has affected hundreds of companies participating in the exhibition, including LG, Samsung, as well as small startups who pay thousands of dollars for booth placements.

10 of the most outstanding devices in CES history

1970 - Philips introduced the first N1500 home video recorder worth $ 900 (about $ 5,000 today).

1975 - Atari introduced the Pong console, launching a revolution in the gaming industry.

1981 - Sony's first 650-MB portable video camera and Sony's first CD.

1985 - Introduced the Nintendo Entertainment System gaming console (also known as the Nintendo Advanced Video System).

1988 - The presentation of the game Tetris, after which it appeared in each console of the Nintendo Game Boy in 1989.

1991 - showing the 32-bit PlayStation console from Sony.

1993 - the release of Apple Newton - one of the first series of pocket personal computers.

1996 - presentation of the first DVD.

1999 - at the same time, two companies launched digital video recorders, allowing recording programs and separate recordings with subsequent playback, ReplayTV and TiVo.

2004 - the beginning of the era of Blu-ray.

2010 is the debut of the world's first tablet PC from Microsoft.

Survival Tips at CES

CES 2018

American journalist in the IT-industry and the computer games industry Dean Takahashi has developed a special guide to visiting CES. Here are the main points:

• each person passes through a metal detector. At the exhibition, you can carry only two bags, measuring 30 * 43 * 15 cm. Therefore, it is better to leave your luggage at the hotel;
• should be prepared for long queues for taxis and car rental;
• take care of comfortable shoes;
• Internet connection and mobile connection will be overloaded, even in hotels. Best wifi signal in press rooms. Do not bring MiFi. Optimally activate a personal access point;
• print a showroom map, your tickets and a schedule of events;
• Take a backup battery for a laptop, smartphone, a good camera, painkillers, vitamins and hand sanitizer;
• provide a sufficient number of business cards;
• Plan your meetings in places that are next to each other. Come in advance because you may encounter long lines;
• drink plenty of water, get enough sleep. Do not attend parties every night.