In-Person CES 2021 Cancelled

The CTA, the organization that runs CES, announced this morning that they’re taking the annual event online. Previously, the CTA was pushing forward with its plan to continue hosting the consumer electronics event in Vegas, but we assume they received feedback from both attendees (ourselves included) and showcasing companies that it would be irresponsible to continue with an in-person event.

Amid the pandemic and growing global health concerns about the spread of COVID-19, it’s just not possible to safely convene tens of thousands of people in Las Vegas in early January 2021 to meet and do business in person.

The punchline is that if they moved the event location to outside the US versus hosting it online, it’s in the realm of possibility that no one from the US could attend still, since our handling of the pandemic has been far from ideal. While that is embarrassing, at least now we can sit on the couch in our underwear, watching Samsung and LG unveil new fridges and TVs instead of standing in long ass lines, worrying if someone is going to cough on me.

This was the right move, CTA. Good job.

// CTA