While CEA chief Gary Shapiro was in San Francisco, talking up CES 2010 at a private dinner with journalists, I was at a downtown Manhattan bistro having dinner with Jason Oxman, the CEA’s Senior Vice-President of Industry Affairs. Like the West Coast dinner, this one quickly turned to the subject of who would and wouldn’t attend the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas in 2010.
Oxman readily gave up two major–though not surprising–keynote speakers; Intel CEO Paul Otellini and Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer. Apparently there was a third big name, but Oxman wouldn’t divulge it, instead giving us cryptic clues about Detroit, Grosse Point and, possibly, music and cars (discuss).
Oh, yes: We talked Apple, too. As part of a game in which the assembled journalists made up names that rhymed with possible keynote speakers, someone threw in “Meve Slobs”–a pretty clear reference to Steve Jobs. Oxman didn’t say no, but laughed in a way that made me think it would be next to impossible. We also asked if Apple would have an official presence. Oxman never directly answered the question, but did say that the iLounge, an area devoted to third-party Apple accessories and peripherals, would be bigger than ever (25,000 square feet).
One thing we do know is Apple will not be at Macworld next year. (Will there even be a show? The site says yes). Does that mean Apple might finally grace CES with its presence? Unlikely. Apple never enjoys being one of many. It likes to control the venue and the message. CES is bigger than Macworld, making it even less attractive to Apple.
Speaking of size, Oxman did tell us that 113,000 attendees is the new normal for CES (previously, attendee numbers topped 150K). CEA execs believe it’s more manageable and valuable for attendees and exhibitors. One journalist at the dinner astutely noted that the show numbers had started to decline before the economic downturn; Oxman said it was by design–two years ago they started charging for attendance.
One other major move the CEA did announce is that it will no longer split the show between the Las Vegas Convention Center and the Sands Convention Center. In 2010, the show will be at the LVCC only.
