Photo by John Atkinson
The question, "What if they Gave a CES and Nobody Came?," which headlined my
As We See It from mid-2016, was echoed by a similar title on Jon Iverson's opening blog for our coverage of CES 2018. Yet hopes and fears that our industry's increasingly limited presence in the Venetian would sound the death knell for "high performance audio" at CES do not reflect the experience of those who this year chose to either exhibit or
wander hallways and eateries in search of dealers and distributors.
Yes, there were only two big suites on the 35th floor, and smaller exhibits were limited to the 29th floor. Even some of those were separated by exhibits from technology companies unrelated to high-end audio. As for swanky off-site suites at the Mirage across the street—the only off-site exhibits that
Stereophile tends to visit—they were limited to two, and at least one of those was only open for two days. But exhibitor after exhibitor reported satisfaction with their experience. In fact, so many of the people they had hoped to see made it to CES that some have already announced their decision to return.
For the record, Las Vegas seemed easier to visit this year than in the past. Part of that, of course, was due to the fact that there were fewer exhibits to cover. We only sent four people, one of whom was videographer extraordinaire Jana Dagdagan. The ever-amazing Jon Iverson was able to depart after two days of covering an amazingly large number of rooms, and I finished my coverage on Day 3 and wrote for hours on the final day before heading home.
But there were other reasons why a visit to Las Vegas was less arduous this year. While the line for registration badges at McCarran International Airport was inexcusably massive—that the CTA (Consumer Technology Association) does not have more people working registration there escapes all reason—it was relatively easy to get an Uber from airport to hotel without being forced to pay the hideous 5.2 times surcharge that Uber slapped on us two years ago. When I got to the airport at 1:15 pm on the final day, while the show was still going on, the security line was astoundingly short compared to years past, and personnel noticeably unruffled.
Despite massive crowds and the preposterous blackout at the LVCC (that began right after I left), almost everyone I encountered except for one male line cutter and one woman who barged into the elevator as we were trying to exit was polite, friendly, and unjaded. Jon and I may have skipped an ultra-expensive gratis dinner at Picasso so that we could write more blogs, and I may have celebrated the New Year Jewish style with two dinners of Chinese food, but when I had John Atkinson and Michael Fremer as dinner companions, I felt more prosperous than Picasso.
As much as Las Vegas during CES remains a toxic rip-off, with all the inflated pricing, surface distraction, and unbridled decadence that descriptor implies, it remains, for some companies, a less expensive alternative to exhibiting at the full-to-capacity Munich High End. Some also report that it's far easier to conduct business with industry folk at a trade show than at a consumer show (
eg, AXPONA, Munich, LAAS, RMAF, CAF, NYAS). While more and more companies seem to be choosing to cruise the halls in quasi-parasitic fashion, hoping to snare industry folk as they walk between rooms that others paid for, it seems unlikely that high-end audio is poised to throw out the baby with the bathwater. Which is another way of saying, there is every reason to expect that
Stereophile will return to Las Vegas in 2019, where we will again encounter a significant number of product premiers from companies familiar and new.
