The second week of January is a
special time for the consumer
electronics (CE) industry.
This is when the International
CES®, the largest tradeshow
of its kind, rolls into Las
Vegas with more than 130,000 attendees,
including 6000 or so engineers.
If you’ve attended this spectacle before,
you probably listened to Bill Gates of
Microsoft give the preshow keynote on a
Sunday night at The Venetian. International
CES will start on a Thursday this year,
though, so the preshow keynote will be on
Wednesday night.
BIGGER AND BETTER
I first attended International CES back in
1981 when I was a new technical editor at
Popular Electronics magazine. The show was
big even then, but it’s so much bigger now.
As this show has grown, so have the official
show venues.
You can find most of the exhibits at the
Las Vegas Convention Center (LVCC),
especially those of the big CE companies like
Sony, Microsoft, Motorola, Panasonic, and
Samsung. The keynotes have found a home
in The Venetian. Many exhibits will be right
next door at the Sands Expo and Convention
Center. And, the International Gateway and
International Insider Series will be held at the
Las Vegas Hilton.
Due to its expansive layout, planning is a
must. Start with the maps on the International
CES Web site, CESweb.org/exhibits/facilities,
which will help you understand the layout
of each venue. You should secure a map of
the Las Vegas strip as well. You also can
find a good interactive map at the Las Vegas
Monorail Web site, www.lvmonorail.com,
which shows the locations of the monorail
stops and the major hotels on the strip.
How do you tackle a show as large as
CES? We’ll try to make you an informed
International CES show attendee in the following
pages, but here are some tips to get
you started. As mentioned, this year the
keynotes begin on a Wednesday evening—
January 7. Microsoft will kick off the show
again this year, this time with CEO Steve
Ballmer making the presentation. Considering
Microsoft’s key role in the industry, you will
need to get in line early. If you show up at the
last minute, all the seats may be gone.
GETTING AROUND
While the keynotes will be held in The
Venetian, the TechZones will be housed
in a few different locations, mainly the
LVCC, South Hall and the Sands Expo and
Convention Center. You can take the free
Sands/Venetian Express from the Sands/
Venetian to the LVCC, running every 10
minutes. But buses have to wait in traffic like
any other vehicle, so a five-minute trip can
easily stretch to fifteen or twenty.
Another option is the monorail. While we
don’t recommend it for the Sands/Venetian, it
does stop at the LVCC and the Hilton. Order
monorail tickets in advance on CESweb.org
by December 24 to receive a 20% discount
and get a one-day ticket for the monorail for
$9.60. New this year is a seven-day convention
pass for $60.
The monorail is a great option for getting
straight to the LVCC if you are staying at one
of the hotels with a monorail stop, but there
are also free hotel shuttle busses from official
CES hotels to both the LVCC and the Sands/
Venetian. These shuttles can take you to the
show every morning and home every night.
Start your Thursday with the opening keynote
at The Venetian. Then, depending on
what you want to see, you may want to head
to the LVCC or over to the Sands, which you
can walk to from The Venetian. One of the
main attractions at the Sands is the emerging
technology exhibits.
The International CES organizers believe
engineers attending the show will find these
exhibits particularly interesting, and I agree.
The list of TechZones looks intriguing, and
there should be something to satisfy the interests
of everyone. While you’re at the Sands,
I’d also recommend visiting the Innovations
2009 Design and Engineering Showcase.
Keynotes, exhibits, and TechZones are the
foundation of the show, but there’s more for
engineers to see at the 2009 International
CES. For example, a gala event each year
is the Technology & Engineering Emmy®
Awards. Keep in mind that this event will be
on the same evening as the preshow keynote,
January 7. More information can be found at
CESweb.org/awards/techEmmys.asp.
I also recommend “Going Green:
More Than a Label,” moderated by Ron
Schneiderman of Electronic Design. The session
will be Thursday at noon in the LVCC
North Hall, Room N254.