Back from CES, back to normal
5:00 pm January 12th, 2009 by Sal Cangeloso
CES is over, as are the holidays and vacation. It’s nice to back in the city, but that means back to work and the daily grind, which isn’t quite as much fun.
Before CES 2009 is a distant memory I wanted to mention the issue of attendance. The official projections (probably from CEA) had the number at something like 10-13% down, but in actuality it was way more than that. Silicon Alley Insider says 30%, which seems closer to the truth. It was obvious at times just how empty the show was–normal bottlenecks like Intel’s booth were generally easy to get through and there was no rush to enter the show floor at 9am each day. Also, large pieces of the show floor were empty, where companies had pulled out or just didn’t show up.
The most depressing moment of it all (at least for me) happened Saturday morning. I was sitting in the press room with about 25 other people, with just one other person at my table. Normally the press room is packed at that time, with barely a seat to spare. Instead it was just me and a bunch of international press. Even the WiFi connection was working great, which rarely happens CES. Of course, there were no donuts left.
Anyway, it’s all over now, but it wasn’t a great year for CES. Maybe if Apple shows up next year it will help, and obviously an improved economic outlook wouldn’t hurt, but I think it’s clear that the show needs some reorganization as well.
