Can Vegas Sustain Another CES?

Trade shows, especially in the technology industry, often gravitate to the grand city of Las Vegas. Why? The location is always upbeat, the space accommodating, and the area fairly central to most. But anyone that's traveled to an event there over the past few years knows that the costs are also exponential, and only getting larger. If you go to Vegas for a show like CES, you're liable to pay upwards of $300/night for a hotel room that would normally run for half that. A good meal is tough to find for a reasonable price (although plenty of fantastic meals are to be had if you're willing to fork over the dough for them!) And drinks? You're lucky to find anything, and I mean anything with even just a drop of alcohol for less than $10. But with the economy in the state that it's currently in, will Vegas be able to keep up its perceived price gouging of trade show-goers?

The next massive show to arrive in Sin City is indeed CES this January. At this year's CEDIA EXPO, which took place in Denver, CO, many were rumbling that CES would be jumping ship to another city once its contract was up. The reason? Pricing was getting ridiculous in that great city known as Lost Wages. Some claimed that this wasn't entirely true: the CEA was just bluffing in an effort to get Vegas to wake up to the incredible loss the city would experience if events companies started moving their business elsewhere. Neither of these rumours have ever been substantiated, but we have seen evidence that Las Vegas definitely needs to, and might already be, waking up to the effects economic uncertainty can have.

Visit the official CES Website (http://www.cesweb.org/), for instance, and you'll see a ton of hotels highlighted in bright yellow, signifying that they're offering reduced rates for show attendees. The most dramatic is the Excalibur, where a room that was $219 has now been reduced to just $141.

Aside from the show, the downturn the city is suffering from is becoming quite apparent. According to the Las Vegas Meetings and Travel Website from the Conventions and Visitors Authority, the number of visitors during the month of September was down 10.1% when compared to September 2007. In August, visitors were down 4.3%. The number of attendees at conferences was down 10% in Sept. and a whopping 22.3% in August; while the number of conferences actually held during those months was down 17.9% and 7.2%, respectively when compared to the prior year. Airline passengers arriving to or leaving from Vegas was also down: 9.9% in August and 13.2% in September. On average, all of the aforementioned figures were down at least 4% throughout the entire year of 2008 when compared to '07.

Meanwhile, even the gamblers are pinching their pennies. A recent Reuters report indicates that Vegas gambling is down for the ninth month in a row, while the take for casinos has dropped US$58 million from one year ago to an astonishing US$1 billion! Company shares on the stock market are also plummeting: Las Vegas Sands Corp. dropped from US$122 to just US$6; MGM Mirage from US$93 to US$11; and Wynn Resorts Ltd. from US$139 to under US$44.

While you won't see relevant companies opting out of attending CES this year altogether, you will see a cut back in the number of employees going down to the show. This means fewer flights, fewer dollars acquired from hotel room bookings, fewer dollars spent gambling, and fewer food and drink sales. Booths at the show will likely remain as big and flashy as they always are, but it's very possible that companies will be scaling back on even booth space as they consider bookings for next year's show.

What does this mean? The city of Las Vegas should really be pro-active in addressing all of these concerns, for both visitors and potential business partners that are looking to hold their conventions, events, and parties there. CES isn't moving to another location just yet, and has never announced that it is looking to do so either. But everything could tumble like a deck of cards if Vegas doesn't start proving itself a worthy, and reasonably-priced, home for convention-holders and goers to spend their money.

[Photo: Las Vegas News Bureau (LVCVA)].

CEDIA EXPO: The Numbers Are In, and the Verdict Is...

CEDIA has officially released data on attendance at this year's Expo, which just wrapped up yesterday. As many expected, attendance was down by about 16%, from 29,000 visitors last year to 25,000 this year. However, CEDIA calls it a "minimal decrease", especially considering the current economic climate. The organization also claims that the number of non-exhibiting attendees was actually up, along with the number of system contractors taking courses.

What it sounds like, then, is that exhibitor numbers were down, because the actual show floor was certainly crowded on any given day of the show. Last year, there was a relatively small room on the lower level that housed maybe about 40 exhibitors showing off their wares in a more intimate setting. This year, that room sadly didn't exist, and many guess that there were just too few exhibitors that showed up. Indeed, it was observed that some companies magically appeared on the main floor on the second day to set up, leading many to believe that they had relocated from that bottom area.

While CEDIA is an important event for the custom A/V industry, it does cost a lot in both time and money to purchase a booth, set it up, fly down a team to man the booth, and then entertain dealers whilst there. Attendees don't have to worry about booth set up or any other costs but a flight, hotel, and meals (and time, of course). So it makes sense that if anyone were going to lay low this year and cut costs in relation to trade shows, it would be the manufacturers.

Nevertheless, CEDIA says that more than 500 companies exhibited at the show, 90 of which were new. While there wasn't one item that caused major buzz, there were a handful that really caught the attention of some. These include Russound's Collage system that provides multi-room digital audio distribution by using standard, AC wiring; Savant's ROSIE surface touch-panel controller that was on display in a coffee table-like setting that visitors could play around with; and, of course, anything and everything from Crestron!

Booth-wise, there's no question that Speakercraft stole the show with its oversized, oddly-designed booth that did not feature any products. Yes, you read that correctly: Speakercraft did not have ANY products in its booth! The company opted to use the show as a way to help dealers do better during these trying economic times, handing out cards that provided tips on remaining profitable, or inproving customer service. This was topped off by comfortable seating areas and something no one can say no to: free beer! Needless to say, the booth was jam-packed 'round the clock. A daily performance featuring Thriller-like, derelict and masked dancers accompanied by enchanting music really took this booth over the top. Stay tuned for a video interview with SpeakerCraft Canada's Linda van Zanten explaining the booth concept, along with some footage of the performance (soon featured at www.marketnews.ca/videos.asp).

Now that CEDIA has officially wrapped up, everyone's already thinking about CES and making their reservations for that show.

As an aside, any time I fly to any trade show, especially CEDIA and CES, it appears that at least half the plane is occupied by Canadian CE industry members. We should really think of banding together and getting a private plane. It could potentially save money, and hassle for everyone. And if we could find one without the dreaded middle seat, everyone would be a little bit happier upon their arrival.