More CES Details At CEA Forum

By Steve Smith -- TWICE, 10/24/2005

LAS VEGAS — The Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) held its annual Industry Forum last week at the site of its most famous creation, International CES, outlining plans for the 2006 event, issuing predictions on holiday retail sales (see story opposite), giving an analysis of specialty retailers (see story p. 14) and introducing the CE Hall of Fame Class of 2005.

Those were only a few of the events during the four-day meeting held at the Four Seasons Resort, here, which drew a record crowd of more than 500 manufacturers, retailers, industry suppliers and press.

For those preparing for the 2006 International CES, to be held here Jan. 5-8, Karen Chupka, events and conferences VP, said that 1.6 million square feet of exhibit space has been sold to date for the event, higher than last year's 1.538 million square feet of this year's show, and that probably another 100,000 square feet of space will be sold before CES kicks off in January. While Chupka conservatively estimated that there would be “over 130,000 attendees” for the upcoming CES, at the 2005 event around 145,000 attended.

Among the draws to the show are always the keynote speakers and panelists. Chupka, and CEA president/CEO Gary Shapiro, reported at an informal press briefing here, added more speakers to the Industry Insider lineup: Ivan Steinberg, CEO of Verizon Communications; Kevin Martin, chairman of the Federal Communications Commission who will have a one-on-one interview with Shapiro; and Antonio M. Perez, president/CEO of Eastman Kodak.

The series will also feature a Retail Power Panel, again hosted by Shapiro. The panelists are Brad Anderson, vice-chairman/CEO of Best Buy; Dave Edmondson, president/CEO of RadioShack; Alan McCollough, chairman/CEO of Circuit City; and Larry Mondry, CEO of CompUSA.

As previously reported, the Sands Convention Center will be used to house the Innovations Plus product area as well as “TechZones” of emerging technologies,

To make sure that attendees reach the Sands Convention Center and the Las Vegas Convention Center (LVCC) in a timely manner, CEA has come up with two bus routes to and from the hotels specifically for each venue, and there will be shuttles to and from the Sands and the LVCC. CEA will reveal more information about CES plans during a press briefing in New York during mid-November.

In other show related news, Rossi Ralenkotter, president/CEO of the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Association (LVCVA), keynoted the Tuesday afternoon Industry Forum luncheon where he revealed plans to increase the size of the Las Vegas Convention Center. The plans will be voted on by the LVCVA in a meeting of its board during mid-December. The plans include making it easier for “both attendees and vehicles to easily enter and leave the facility,” creating some new architecture to make the entrance of the Convention Center more distinctive, and other improvements.