How CES Handles its Six-figure Attendance

Strategies from CES’ decades-long partnership with Las Vegas

As a meeting professional, you know the challenges faced and overcome in the planning process. The orchestration of numerous departments—event registration, F&B, transportation, security, event technology, etc.—designed with the aim of hosting a memorable and productive event or meeting can be chaotic. If one isn’t intentional and doesn’t have a proper strategy in place, things could turn out differently than planned.

When hosting events in Las Vegas, with the already high foot traffic to contend with, there’s little room for not having a well-thought-out strategy—but the city knows how to handle events. The destination is well versed in large-scale events, and will continue to host more, with Formula 1 and Super Bowl LVIII coming early next year.

“There is no other destination that puts on large-scale events quite like Las Vegas,” said Lisa Messina, chief sales officer at Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority. “The city’s unique energy can be felt whether you’re on the showroom floor, attending an exhilarating sporting event or dining at one of our world-renowned restaurants. Vegas is simply in a category of its own.

“The breadth and depth of offerings, in addition to the hospitality all-stars at every property on and off The Strip who ensure event planning is a seamless and easy operation, keeps Las Vegas a top choice for organizers.”

Consumer Technology Association (CTA) has made Las Vegas a top choice since 1978, when it began hosting its annual CES show in the city; and it will continue to do so for the foreseeable future through a contract that has made the city its host until 2039. The show attracts more than 100,000 attendees annually. This year, the event’s organizers expect more than 130,000 attendees from more than 150 countries to be in attendance.

“Each attendee has a different set of needs while visiting Las Vegas, but their basic logistical needs are universal,” says CES Show Director John Kelly.

“They want a smooth experience so they can spend time doing what they traveled to Las Vegas for: to see the latest technology, products and services and meet with buyers, partners, media, suppliers, etc. Our role is to help facilitate a smooth experience, and we work with many of our vendors to support this. We also hire more than 600 temporary staff to work customer service locations, badge pickups and provide general assistance to our attendees.”

Safety Measures

Event safety and security is and always will be a concern. As tactics to breach security become more sophisticated, luckily, the security designed to stop those breaches does too. The larger an event is, the more vital security becomes. “The safety and security of our attendees is the most important thing at CES. We have exhibition/meeting spaces across nine venues and, in some cases, multiple halls within these venues,” Kelly says. “To manage this, we work with multiple local and federal agencies in the months leading up to CES to ensure we have proper security measures in place while also minimizing the impact on the attendee experience.”

Read More: Event Safety PSA: Failing to Prepare Could Cost You

Kelly says CES hires hundreds of security staff to support the event. “We take a multilayered approach that is comprised of perimeter security, venue security and security at the doors to meeting rooms/exhibition halls, among other things,” he says. “As you can imagine, this is a huge undertaking.”

And when you’re the keeper of data of more than 130,000 people, cyber security must be taken just as seriously. “Consumer Technology Association is a leading advocate for a national consumer data privacy framework and supports federal efforts around the National Cybersecurity Strategy to protect consumers and ensure a safe, secure future,” Kelly says. “We consistently work with our vendors to ensure they have the proper security measures in place to protect against cyber threats. We consider scenarios and develop contingencies to continue business operations, should there be disruptions during the show.”

Additionally, CES has integrated what was once a standalone app into its official show app, which will be available on Apple and Android phones. “Attendees can use this functionality to report suspicious behavior as well as receive up to date information regarding security related issues while onsite,” Kelly says.

Transportation

Like Messina, Kelly also believes no city is better equipped to manage large shows like Las Vegas, a city with more than 150,000 hotel rooms. CES has relationships with many hotels near and on The Strip, as well as Las Vegas Convention Center, where CES will take place.

“We have a robust transportation system in place during CES where we move large groups of people throughout the city in the most efficient way possible,” he says. “We work with our transportation vendor to fine tune the shuttle routes and pickup/drop off points to ensure the best attendee experience.”

For a smoother experience from the get-go, CES offers badge pickup in many of its partner hotels and on arrival at Harry Reid International Airport (LAS). “This alleviates the need to ever visit one of the badge pickup areas at the actual show so attendees can spend time in conference sessions and on the show floor,” Kelly says.

“The new Boring Tunnel and the existing monorail help with the movement of people, but the reality is that whenever you bring 130,000+ people to a city for a few days, there will likely be some congestion at certain areas and times. However, the city is more equipped to deal with crowds than most cities in the U.S.”  

Critical Lessons

Kelly says outboarding is a big issue that CES tries to control. Outboarding is the act of creating and using a digital or physical non-permanent exhibit, demonstration or branded activation outside of the scope of the event but promoting it as if it were, or implying that it is.

“As the show organizer, we have huge investments into producing the event, and exhibitors make investments to support the events,” Kelly says. “We work with our venues and vendor partners to minimize the number of outboarding events.” CTA and CES have a policy against outboarding. According to the organizations, individuals and companies who are in violation may face the following:

• They will lose priority points affecting their space selection order for future CES’.
• A companies may be subject to exposure as an outboarder to CTA members, media, customers and shareholders.
• A company may also be subject to loss of its CTA membership.

“We as show organizers ‘don’t know what we don’t know’ with respect to happenings around the city and the city ‘doesn’t know what they don’t know’ with respect to what is going on at the show,” Kelly says. “So, it is important to constantly share information. We are also fortunate to have a great network of vendor partners who we’ve worked with for many years who help us navigate many of the challenges citywide events pose.”