Meet “Kevin the Sad PR Guy,” Our 2009 Booth Babe
by John Paczkowski
Posted on December 31, 2008 at 12:41 PM PT
Our industry is the one that this going to get the economy through this recession.
– Gary Shapiro, president and CEO of the Consumer Electronics Association
The International Consumer Electronics Show will kick off next week shrouded in a nimbus of recessionary gloom. Show attendance is expected to be down eight percent this year, according to Gary Shapiro, CEO of the Consumer Electronics Association, who expects 130,000 attendees to flood the convention–11,000 fewer than last year. The show floor itself will be slightly diminished as well. CES exhibitor booths required 1.8 million square feet in 2008. In 2009, they’ll take up 1.7 million, presumably thanks to the absence of Seagate (STX), Logitech (LOGI), Cisco (CSCO), Philips (PHG), Yahoo (YHOO) and Sanyo–all of which have abandoned plans to exhibit on the show floor. That said, the overall number of exhibitors will remain the same as last year, at about 2,700.
So the show will be a bit smaller and a bit less clamorous than in years past. Likely a bit more sober as well, given this rough retail year. Quite a change from the extravagance of years past, but not without a certain upside. “This is the bleakest CES in 30 years going in,” said Envisioneering Group analyst Richard Doherty. “[Some exhibitors] will be spending more of their time off the show floor. We may now be able to get between the Venetian and the convention in less than an hour.”
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Comments
Hey, John: Our little company — 3ality Digital– is actually EXCITED about going to CES this year, as we’re working on one of the bright spots in the ruckus: the 3D broadcast of the BCS Championship Game, which Sony is presenting on Jan. 8th. Our other partners are Fox Sports and Cinedigm, who are also bringing the game to more than 80 movie theaters across the country. I can’t say that I’m sad about the prospect of fewer booth babes, but I am thrilled about football players in 3D. (I hear the cheerleaders are generally a hit, as well.)
Posted by Angela Gyetvan at December 31st, 2008 at 1:05 pmAngela, You are not the only one excited – so am I. So are the 300 new exhibitors and 2400 returning exhibitors. So are the 25000 people traveling from outside the US to see the epicenter of technology!
The commentary above had some problems. First, we don’t know the final attendance. 130k is the same pre-show estimate we give every year and sometimes it is exceeded and sometimes it is not.Only this year did it become a story that we are projecting lower attendance.
Second, is the list of companies that supposedly bowed out of the CES. Each year companies come and go. Each has a story. Philips is out of the TV business. Panasonic is buying Sanyo. etc. Major companies like Verizon and Mattel are exhibiting for the first time.
The CES succeeds because it attracts the leaders of several industries and is designed to allow anyone with a good idea to be exposed to media, retailers and investors for a small investment.
Posted by Gary Shapiro at January 1st, 2009 at 1:15 pmGary …
My post quotes the lower projected attendance number you gave to VentureBeat and The New York Times, both. I’m not quite sure why that’s a problem. If you aren’t projecting lower attendance this year, please let me know and I’ll adjust the post accordingly.
Posted by John Paczkowski at January 1st, 2009 at 11:03 pm