The largest consumer tech show in North America just wrapped up. We sat down with the woman who runs the International CES (or "Consumer Electronics Show" if you're earning your geek merit badge) to get some secrets, fun facts, and tips on how it all comes together.
Consumer Electronics Association SVP Karen Chupka, whom we snapped Monday, looks relaxed for a woman who just closed her association's big four-day event in Vegas. The annual international trade event draws over 150,000 people from all over the world, takes up over 2 million square feet of convention center space, generates 90% of CEA's $69M annual revenue, and brings $194M worth of visitor revenue to Vegas. She's been doing it for 24 years.
Karen shows us one of many floor plans from this year's show. She joined the Arlington, Va.-based association in '89 to help with event registrations, and has 45 full-time people who spend 15 months planning the annual event. Karen tells us the organization spends time briefing reporters before and after the show, using social media to highlight displays, and marketing to international audiences. CES has suffered little from the economic downturn, in fact some CEA members ramped up their presence in '08 and '09 so they could talk to potential customers in one place, especially those coming from overseas.
Karen, here with marketing VP Susan Littleton, says part of CES' success is the association board, which lets CEA invest in the show to make it better. Board members also don't hold back the association from including all technologies, even those that may compete with their own businesses. Karen, who also sits on CEA's executive board, says the team has worked on strong partnerships with other groups that can bring more attendees to the event. Some groups have used it to hold their own board meetings and in return, CEA gives them extra perks like a private lounge or their own conference room. What technology caught Karen's eye this year? Driverless cars and the new ultraHD TVs with 8 million megapixels.
