CES Outboarding Policy
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Outboarding at CES is unethical, not fair and not tolerated.
As owner and producer of CES®, the Consumer Technology Association (CTA)® works diligently to protect our exhibitors’ commitment and investment in the trade show and the industry by taking a firm stance against outboarding.
Outboarding is defined as any digital or physical non-permanent exhibit, demonstration, event, or branded activation that is created and deployed outside the scope of CES but is promoted or implied as being a part of CES. This includes digital or virtual programming and activations as well as physical events at Las Vegas hotel suites, meeting rooms, ballrooms, restaurants, clubs, etc. For physical events, a company is also considered an outboarder if it has contracted space with CTA but contracts directly with another Las Vegas venue for space (for more than one day) that exceeds the net square footage (NSF) contracted with CTA.
Trade shows are organized so that companies in specific industries can showcase and demonstrate their latest products and services, meet with industry partners and customers and examine market trends and opportunities. More than 6,000 members of the media attend the physical CES and generate stories that help build awareness, brand recognition and business development for more than 3,200 CES exhibitors whose participation dollars provide CTA with the funds to host this event and reinvest back into the industry. However, the integrity of the show is diminished, and the value becomes diluted when companies seek - in an unofficial capacity - to capitalize on the 118K+ CES attendees who travel to Las Vegas to meet as an industry or participate in digital CES.
The physical or digital CES brings all facets of the consumer tech community together and we recognize the critical importance of networking to build business. We encourage official exhibitors to host parties and special events to enhance an official presence before and after hours. However, such events should be held to strengthen a company’s CES brand positioning, not held as stand-alone functions that compete against those who are making an additional investment in their brand activation at CES.
Companies who outboard cause inconvenience to attendees and hurt the overall industry as CTA invests CES net proceeds back into the industry through industry promotion, research, standards development, public policy and related activities to benefit the entire consumer technology ecosystem. In fact, our CES attendee survey results indicate that nearly 50 percent of physical show attendees dislike having to leave the show floor to have meetings with exhibitors and/or clients off-site.
Outboarding violates CES policy and the International Association of Exhibitions and Events (IAEE) guidelines. When CES determines that outboarding has occurred, CTA will enforce the rule against the participating company and may impose penalties for violations. It is the CTA Board policy that outboarding companies are subject to sanctions that start with the loss of priority points and for those who are CTA members, may include removal from CTA membership.
Both physical and digital CES offer an array of inventory available for companies looking for non-traditional trade show engagement options. We are willing to work with any industry entity to bring its tech innovation experience to life at CES and connect with the global market.