Tag: CES

Maintain The Base

I’ve been attending
the Consumer Electronics Show
in Vegas
for decades.

The CES knows this
and sends me
emails
offering free registration
four months in advance.

Why would they do this
when they know
I’ll go anyway?

Because making these offers
maintains
their base of attendees.
They can tell advertisers
and exhibitors
that they already have
X number of attendees signed up.

Having a base
of attendees
or sales
or preorders
can benefit us in many different ways.

Maintain that base.
Do what you can
to make them happy.

You Don’t Know Who The Person Truly Is

I visited the Universal booth
at the CES.

I tried to make conversation
with the people staffing it.

All I got was blank stares
and silence.

The person waiting behind me,
upon seeing that interaction,
turned around
and left.

The Universal employees
didn’t know who I was.
Not truly.
Sure I had a name
on my badge
but that was only one of the names
I operate under.
I could have been
someone
extremely influential.

They certainly didn’t know
who the person behind me was.

And that’s the challenge…
we don’t truly know
who people are
or what power or influence
they might have.

So be polite to everyone.

The Power Of The Line

The CES in Vegas
had very low attendance
this year.

(Registration was healthy.
Participants
didn’t show up
for whatever
**cough, cough – illness**
reason.)

To create the illusion
of crowds,
companies
forced attendees to wait
in a line outside
their fairly empty display areas.

These artificial lines
did two major things.

1) It drove media coverage.

Reporters wanted to know
what innovation had interested people
enough to wait in the long lines.

And

2) The existence of the lines
made important guests
feel extra special.
They were able
to go straight to the front,
walking past all the poor suckers
waiting outside the area.

Did the lines attract
more people to the booth?

It did attract SOME people.

It is human nature
to want to be
where everyone else is.

But I suspect it also
drove some people away.
I wasn’t willing to wait
in those artificially created lines,
for example.

Lines attract media attention.
Skipping those lines is viewed
as a valued perk.

Consider creating lines
for events
you suspect the media might cover.

CES And Superspreader Events

I attended this year’s
CES
(Consumer Electronics Show)
in Vegas.

A lot of people attending
this mega conference
were ill.
It was definitely
a superspreader event.

The CES organizers
must have anticipated this possibility.

They had signs erected
everywhere,
telling participants to wear masks,
social distance, test,
and stay away if they were ill.

They gave away
black KN95 masks.

They gave away
test kits.

They had hand sanitizer stations
positioned everywhere.

Ventilation systems in the buildings
were blasting.

There were displays outside.

The CES covered their a$$es.
They did their part
to stop illnesses.

They can truthfully say to the media
and others
it wasn’t their fault
if
only 5% or fewer participants
wore masks.
(Which meant, of course,
the CES didn’t have to supply
many free masks.)

They took precautions.
Participants chose
to spread illness.

When organizing an event
or, f@ck,
when running a business,
cover your a$$ also.

Illness is circulating.
Lawsuits and bad media coverage
will happen
due to it.

Supply masks, tests
and hand sanitizer
and improve ventilation.

The cost of this is less
than you likely believe
and the benefits
will be enormous.

Going Big

One of the highest profile booths
at this year’s Consumer Electronics Show
in Vegas
was the Satisfyer Booth.

This sexual wellness company
gave out full sized samples
of their newest products
to EVERYONE who lined up
for their booth.

This was a huge marketing investment,
even with the lower attendance,
yet I suspect the buzz
paid off.
They were the most talked about company
at the show
based on my observations.

I also suspect that buzz will last.
Their products are awesome.
Most people who try them
will love them
and likely talk about them.

Going big with marketing
IS a risk
but this risk can pay off.