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I've covered these shows when attendance exceeded 200,000. I've covered them in times of economic uncertainty. I covered CES after 9/11. And each year, there's a resilience, an expectation, in some cases a resignation that in order to be part of the tech community, you have to be part of this show since everyone, and I mean, EVERYONE is there.
This year, some big changes that were expected: Steve Ballmer replaces Bill Gates as the opening night keynote kickoff. And some big changes that were not expected: Hotel room discounts!
Yes, you read that correctly. Hotels on the Strip are actually slashing prices ahead of the big show. In the 15 years I've been covering these shows, I have never seen anything like this, and it may just go to show just how soft this economy really is. In years' past, hotels often jacked up their rates during the week of CES because they knew they could. Rooms that ran $75 or $125 the week before and week after CES suddenly jumped to $350, $450, or over $500. The "CES Premium" all of us stuck paying it lamented.
This year, attendees are being tempted by an unheard-of CES discount! In an email to registered attendees, the Consumer Electronics Association writes, "Those who have attended CES over the years and are accustomed to peak rates...may be pleasantly surprised when they book rooms this year." "More affordable than ever," the email adds.
How affordable? Here are some examples: Luxor reducing its rate from $235 to $185; Mandalay Bay will charge $314 the first two nights of CES, but the night before and night after rates drop to $229 and $146 respectively. Excalibur is taking its standard room rate from $219 to $141 and renovated rooms go from $239 to $161. The Hilton is offering free breakfasts to those booking one-bedroom suites; Palm is offering free fitness club access. And that's just a sample. The show itself is offering discounted airfares, free registration and free hotel rooms for some groups.
Reduced rooms and other incentives apparently aren't enough to attract some corporate regulars from year's past: Yahoo [YHOO
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] , Cisco [CSCO
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] , Seagate [STX
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] , Logitech [LOGI
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] , Belkin, Philips and others are either eliminating booths and tents all together, or drastically reducing their presence at the show. Apple Inc.,[AAPL
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] of course, won't be at CES. It never is. It'll be focused on the big MacWorld trade show which kicks off earlier that week in San Francisco. So we'll start that week covering Steve Jobs' keynote and then fly out to Vegas for the rest of the industry. Isn't that always the way? There's Apple; and then there's everybody else.
The CEA, the group that puts on the show, says this year's event will be the third largest in terms of expo space, smaller than 2007 and 2008 which were the show's best. I put a call into the show's offices this morning to get some more comment, and when they call back, I'll post an update. Still, companies reducing their presence and hotels reducing their rates seem to be a clear example that the global economic slowdown is taking its toll on one of the tech industry's seminal events. So maybe the cab line outside the Las Vegas Hilton will shrink down to a mere 40 minute wait this time around, instead of the usual hour-plus it has taken in year's past.
Should be interesting to gauge the health and welfare of the industry through the eyes of CES.
Questions? Comments?
Data is a real-time snapshot *Data is delayed at least 15 minutes