CTA Vows to ‘Go Forward’ With CES 2022

Despite an exodus from the show of major exhibitors and media outlets, including keynoter and sponsor T-Mobile (see 2112220003), the in-person CES 2022 will “go forward” Jan. 5-8 in Las Vegas because “important innovation for world health and safety, mobility and solving problems will be exhibited” there, said CTA Wednesday. “Thousands of smaller and medium sized companies rely on CES for their business,” it said. “We have increased our official count to over 2200 exhibitors.” The 42 exhibitor cancellations CTA recently got are “less than 7% of our exhibit floor,” and 60 new companies joined since Friday, it said. “Digital access” to CES 2022 is available “for people that don’t wish to, or can’t travel to Las Vegas,” said CTA. “Registrations for both our digital access and our Las Vegas event are continuing to show strong momentum, with thousands more registrations in the last few days.” CES 2022 will have “comprehensive health measures” in place, including mandated COVID-19 vaccines, a Las Vegas indoor-masking requirement and onsite COVID-19 testing, said CTA. But the show is not requiring booster shots, and adherence to the Abbott Labs BinaxNOW rapid antigen self-test kits it’s distributing free to all badge holders will rely on the individual honor system (see 2112170033). With the health and safety protocols in place, “coupled with lower attendance and social distancing measures, we are confident that attendees and exhibitors can have a socially distanced but worthwhile and productive event in Las Vegas, as well as a rewarding experience on our digital access,” said the association.