If you happened to be on the Las Vegas Strip last week, it was impossible to miss the massive amounts of both foot and car traffic. The Consumer Electronics Show, widely regarded as not only the largest Las Vegas Convention, but the largest technology convention in North America, took place last week, kicking off what the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority hopes to be a record-setting year.
In 2014, the four-day trade show brought in a staggering 160,498 people to Las Vegas, which included 40,828 international attendees representing 140 countries, 6,575 media members, and 2,670 financial analysts. The 2.06 million square feet of exhibit space temporarily housed 3,673 exhibitors and their 20,000 new product announcements.
The show, which ran from Tuesday through Friday, has been an annual January Vegas staple since 1978, where products such as compact discs, plasma televisions, tablets, and the like were seen for the first time. Since then, locals welcome in the convention which tremendously boosts the local economy, an amount predicted at $210.2 million in non-gaming revenue.
Due to the sheer size of the convention, the Consumer Electronics Association has divided the show into three sections called Tech East, Tech West, and C Space. Teach East will be at the Las Vegas Convention Center, the Westgate Las Vegas, and the Renaissance. Tech West will be at the Sands Expo and Convention Center, The Venetian, the Palazzo, and Wynn Las Vegas and Encore at Wynn. C Space, a brand new space for CES this year, will be at the Aria.
While CES is only open to tech-industry professionals, Thursday saw an open casting call for the reality show Shark Tank at the Venetian Ballroom. The Venetian was also home to CES’ “Eureka Park” exhibition showcasing up-and-coming entrepreneurs and their products. In addition to all the products, CES also provides a platform for companies looking to debate some of the issues facing the technology industry.
This year’s CES has been in planning since the culmination of last year’s, and saw trucks filled with displays and products show up in December. McCarran International Airport was busy starting the Saturday beforehand, while Mandalay Bay Convention Center was busy all day Monday with new product demos and presentations for media members.
Even the transportation industry was forced to adapt to the high numbers. More than 275 shuttle buses were made available to transport attendees, a ninth train was added to the monorail, and the Nevada Taxicab Authority authorized up to 40 additional cabs for each of Southern Nevada’s 16 cab companies for the convention. To help attendees, the CES association contracted with a company, providing a smartphone app, Bandwagon, which helps attendees standing in line for a cab to find others going to the same destination, which helps split cab fare.
