New year, old problems. Despite its determination to be affected as little as possible by COVID and in spite of its organizers, the long shadow of the coronavirus will cloud CES, the great technology fair That will start in a matter of days, this week, in Las Vegas.
After the slow trickle of cancellations of the last two weeks, caused by the fear of some multinationals before the advance of the omicron variant, now it is the CES organization itself that has decided to alter its plans and slightly cut its original schedule. Instead of ending on Saturday 8, as originally planned, the appointment will end on Friday 7.
The decision has been transferred by the Consumer Technology Association (CTA) itself through your official Twitter profile: “CES 2022 will close the day before and the in-person event will take place in Las Vegas from January 5 to 7, 2022 ”. “The decision has been adopted as an additional security measure to the current health protocols that have been put in place for CES”, deepen those responsible in a statement detailing safety guidelines with which they intend to shield the appointment from the advance of the omicron variant of COVID. “We shortened the show to three days and we have implemented comprehensive health measures for the safety of all attendees and participants, “emphasizes Gary Shapiro, president and CEO of CTA.
“Las Vegas is ready”
Cutbacks and in-person casualties aside, the CES insists on vindicating its ability to convene and recalls that more than 2,200 exhibitors have confirmed their attendance in Las Vegas. “In the last two weeks, another 143 companies have signed up to exhibit in person. The construction of the exhibitors’ exhibition space is well advanced and soon attendees will be able to see and experience the latest technological innovations ”, organization highlights.
Perhaps to reinforce that idea and convey —to the extent possible— a certain sense of normalcy, one of the latest posts on his Twitter profile is the retweet of a photo of the pavilion that will host the fair with a large CES logo taken by Jean Foster of the CTA leadership team. The image is accompanied by a short phrase, but with which to counteract any fear of the advance of the coronavirus: “Las Vegas is ready”.
CES 2022 will be closing one day early, and the in-person event will take place in Las Vegas on Jan. 5-7, 2022.
Those that are unable to travel for CES 2022 have the flexibility to join digitally, with access to more than 40 conference sessions. https://t.co/aEboEA7G3r
– CES (@CES) December 31, 2021
The calendar cutout It is not in any case the only novelty with which the CES has said goodbye to 2021. In a note from Thursday, December 30, the organization indicates that it will allow free access to its speaker sessions to all those who have registered.
“CES is pleased to offer all registered attendees in person access to the large list of speakers and sessions (more than one hundred) we have planned as part of our on-site conference program. If you have previously purchased a pass for the conference, your refund will be processed automatically after the CES ”, add those responsible for the event. through its website. For adults, all those who cannot travel in person to Las Vegas on CES days will have the option of following more than 40 conference sessions through the digital registry.
Las Vegas is ready #CES2022 pic.twitter.com/k7X31db4bU
— Jean Foster🏴 (@jeanfoster) December 31, 2021
The CES decision to skip its last day of conferences comes after several weeks in which multinationals such as BMW, Intel, AMD, GM, Google, T-Mobile, Amazon, Microsoft or Meta, have announced their decision not to attend in person to the conference before the advance of the contagions by COVID. The Verge reported several days ago that on Thursday 30 the United States reached a new record for infections and that in Las Vegas 11% of the tests were positive.
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