Google's Page Named CES Keynoter

By Steve Smith -- TWICE, 11/21/2005

NEW YORK — The Consumer Electronics Association (CEA), producer of International CES, added a keynote speaker and provided more details on the event to be held Jan. 5-8, 2006, in Las Vegas.

CEA, which detailed much of its plans, including making the Sands Convention Center a major venue during its annual Industry Forum last month (TWICE, Oct. 24, p. 1), added Google's Larry Page to its keynoter lineup. Page, co-founder and president of products of Google, will address the convention on Friday, Jan. 6, 2006, at 4 p.m. in the Hilton Theater at the Las Vegas Hilton.

“With his entrepreneurial spirit and commitment to innovation, Page is a natural fit for CES. We are thrilled that he has come on board as a keynoter at the 2006 International CES,” said Gary Shapiro, president/CEO of CEA. “Page joins an outstanding keynote line-up that includes Microsoft's Bill Gates, Intel's Paul Otellini, Sony's Howard Stringer and Yahoo!'s Terry Semel.”

The size of the show will be bigger than last year, and about the same size estimated by Karen Chupka, events and conferences VP, at last month's Industry Forum — around 1.65 million square feet of exhibit space. More than 2,500 exhibitors and 130,000 attendees are expected, she said. Concerning attendees, Chupka stressed that CES is a “trade-only show” and, like previous years, the organization is doing its utmost to keep people who do not belong at the event out of convention areas.

One of the key changes in the 2006 version of the show is making the Sands Convention Center a “hub of the show,” as Chupka put it. CEA has made it a hub by putting CES Innovations Plus at the Sands as well as emerging technologies that include more than 12 hot product TechZones, 75 conference sessions including Industry Insiders, International Gateway exhibitors and Dave Graveline's “Into Tomorrow” live radio broadcasts.

As previously reported, special shuttle buses will run to and from the Sands and the Las Vegas Convention Center (LVCC) and from CES hotels to both locations. The special shuttle from the Alexis Park Hotel to the LVCC as in previous shows will continue. The Sands Convention Center will open one hour early during the show, at 8 a.m.

The Innovations 2006 Design and Engineering Awards winners from 30 categories will also be at the Sands. Shapiro noted that “more than 1,000 entries from 160 companies” participated in this year's competition.

For more information on the Innovations 2006 Design and Engineering Awards, plus product descriptions, visit www.CESweb.org/innovations.