Behind the Scenes: How We Run the World's Biggest Innovation Event

The massive International CES covers more than two million square feet of exhibit space plus some 19 miles of aisle carpet, and every show takes years of planning. We have a CES Strategic Team made up of representatives from all departments across CEA including marketing, sales, operations, communications and conferences. This team sets the strategic direction of the International CES looking several years out and works to determine what new trends and marketplaces to feature the following year. The operations team is also working several years ahead to review attendee and traffic trends, secure new hotel rooms, research new Las Vegas partners and work with existing venue partners – such as the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority – to discuss city-wide projects that could impact CES in upcoming years. Juggling these priorities takes great teamwork and several trips to Las Vegas throughout the year to meet with these strategic partners.

We contract with 30 hotels and four convention centers. Even though Las Vegas has more hotel rooms than any other city in the world, we must set our show dates at least a decade ahead to preserve the space we need throughout the city. Most people think we have great negotiating ability. The truth is, Las Vegas is the best city for our event and we work hard to convince hotels to keep rates low. We have an official CES hotel program and work with the properties to offer rooms at a range of reasonable rates to our attendees. Once we come to agreement with the hotel properties, we feature them on our website as official CES hotels and offer shuttle buses from their hotels to official CES locations.

A city-wide event is a simultaneous equation, in which a huge number of hotel rooms and tremendous amount of exhibit space must be available at the same time. We aspire to give everyone a great experience, which means we work months in advance to create a great website, app, pre-show directories and marketing materials so people can plan their visits. Truth be told, no one person can visit with every CES exhibitor during the four days of the show. We create maps. We design electronic messages and posters, and strategize where to hang locational signage. We plan bus routes and staging. In fact, at each show we use more than 300 buses to move our attendees around the city. We work with city officials to optimize traffic flow. We also restrict CES attendance, so that we do not overwhelm the city or create conditions where hotels are tempted to massively increase rates.

CES attracts big-name celebrities, not only from Hollywood and the music industry but also CEOs from Fortune 500 companies and leaders from Washington and other world capitals. Dealing with these people and their security often presents its own special challenges, especially when security people do not plan for the reality that their VIP is human and almost always wants to walk the show floor and see how many of the world's top companies present themselves and their visions of the future. Politicians are a special class, because they're surprised that they are not the center of attention: innovation gets the limelight. Still, they are usually thrilled to get out of the ivory tower of theory and see how the real world operates. When politicians don’t fight to preserve entrenched old businesses, new business models flourish and industries are developed, creating new jobs that flow from innovation.

We have encountered unexpected challenges, including the economic collapse of 2008 and the SARS epidemic. We work to anticipate and address potential crises ahead of time in collaboration with key partners, and implement pre-determined but flexible communications and emergency response plans.

I love tradeshows like the CES! Nowhere else can you combine the thrill of the ancient, bustling marketplaces with the high-tech displays from global competitors. Plus, you meet the world’s smartest and most innovative people. You see how they share ideas, present a vision, forge partnerships and create new industries. And there is the element of serendipity – you never know whom you may run into and what amazing innovation you may stumble across.

Every year the CES is more exciting. Thanks to innovation and advancements such as the proliferation of smartphones, sensors and connectivity, technology is not only bridging people with each other and with knowledge and information, but breakthrough products are being introduced to address the world’s biggest problems in healthcare, education, agriculture, clean water, assisting the disabled and eliminating car accidents. 3-D printing, driverless cars, drones, robots, thin displays, connected homes, automation and more are transforming our lives.

As the owner and producer of CES, the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) and our 150 employees have a sacred trust. We must produce the best event possible each year, so that innovators can gather and bring innovation to market. It is an important responsibility, as we believe the future economic and physical health of the next generation depend upon innovation solving the biggest problems of our time.