CES 2022 might be messy, promoter says.

CES Convention 2022 Set for Las Vegas with Smaller Players, Less Hoopla

When it comes to the pandemic, there is only one thing we are certain of. It’s not over yet. Often you will see the words post-pandemic in articles or online, and the truth is we are not post-pandemic by any measure you may use. What originally was going to be a preview of this year’s CES convention in Las Vegas is now a story on who will NOT be there and instead have pulled out due to Omicron.

In a piece from variety.com, we learned some of the names of major players in high tech who have decided to sit out 2022. Previously, Microsoft, Google, Intel, Amazon, Qualcomm, iHeartRadio, Meta (Facebook’s new corporate name), and T-Mobile were among those announcing that they would not be attending the show, which is scheduled to run Jan. 5-8 in Las Vegas.

But even with many of the usual major players pulling out, some smaller players are staying in CES 2022 and hoping to move their companies upward.

LG, Sony, and Samsung are among the major exhibitors that as of this writing are still planning on having a presence at CES. This Monday, Samsung released a teaser video promising “an extraordinary surprise” from the South Korean consumer-electronics giant at the trade show. Panasonic shifted its press day to a digital-only event but for now, expects to have “limited” on-site staffing at CES.

According to CTA president/CEO Gary Shapiro, canceling the trade show would “hurt thousands of smaller companies, entrepreneurs, and innovators who have made investments in building their exhibits and are counting on CES for their business, inspiration, and future.” On the other hand, “If we do not cancel, we face the drumbeat of press and other critics who tell the story only through their lens of drama and big-name companies,” he said in a Dec. 24 post on LinkedIn.

Here is the latest statement from Shapiro:

“CES will and must go on,” Shapiro wrote. “It will have many more small companies than large ones. It may have big gaps on the show floor. Certainly, it will be different from previous years. It may be messy. But innovation is messy. It is risky and uncomfortable.”

While concern is ramped up in every sector of the convention, experts feel the risk to continue with the 3-day event will be worth keeping the doors open. Citing vaccines, therapies, masks, and other precautions Shapiro is moving forward with this year’s CES 2022, which has been referred to as “The Most Influential Tech Event in the World.”

Future Of Work Summit January 12

In another high-tech get-together reported by venturebeat.com, the Future Of Work Summit will be done virtually and it will cover the topics Enterprise Automation, Remote Working and New Technology.

You can sign up for the January 12th digital event by clicking the link below. It is billed as a one-day event that is broken into 30-minute segments.

Here are a few of the speakers scheduled to be involved:

Two of the morning sessions will be –Zooming in on the Future of Remote Work; What Collaboration and Communication Will Look Like in the Future And Enabling the Skills of the Future by Deploying Technology With Humans in Mind

With the latest numbers about the spread of the Omicron Variant not being good at all, we can’t say we would be eager to participate in  CES 2022. The Future Of Work Summit promises less exposure to covid risk. Both links are posted below to help you decide your preference in the high-tech gatherings coming up to kick off the hopefully brighter and safer 2022.

read more at venturebeat.com

and at variety.com