When I first started attending
the Consumer Electronics Show
in Vegas
well over a decade ago,
I was the rare woman attendee
on the show floor.
The other women
were usually show bunnies
and I was often lumped in
with them
by the men attending.
It was assumed
I didn’t know anything
about tech or business.
This year,
about every fifth attendee
that I saw
was female.
The assumption was
I knew what I was talking about
(though I WAS tested
by men
much more often
than the men I was attending
the show
with).
What has changed?
One of the big changes
is the definition of
what electronics include.
A decade ago,
the CES focused on computers,
on audio-video equipment,
on cars.
The organizers were male.
They only included
the electronics THEY, as males,
were interested in.
This year,
all of these typical male-skewed areas
were represented
but there were also
automated baby monitors,
smart fridges,
fitness equipment,
products that usually skew
toward female consumers
and are often designed
by female engineers.
The CES’ definition
of electronics has changed
and that has changed
what the industry looks like.
Does your industry
include EVERY business
that qualifies
or is it
excluding businesses
outside of the leaders’ experiences?