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• Transcript

  James Kotecki (00:00):

  Hey, it's James Kotecki from CES Tech Talk here to tell you that registration for the world's most powerful tech event is now open. What event is that? You know what event it is. Come on. The greatest minds, the most powerful brands, the most impactful technology, it all comes together at CES 2024. So discover the tech defining AI, transportation, startups, smart cities, digital health and solutions for a better, more sustainable planet.

  (00:30)

  Register now at ces.tech. All together, all in, all on.
  
  This is CES Tech Talk. I'm James Kotecki. The world's most powerful tech event, CES 2024 brings the future to Las Vegas, January 9th through 12th. Today, the ultimate CES preview, and I mean ultimate with a literal sense of finality because this is our final episode before CES 2024.

  (01:00)

  Who better to give us the inside scoop than the people who put on the show? So let's welcome back to the podcast, three leaders from the Consumer Technology Association, the group that owns and produces CES. We've got John T. Kelly, who is VP CES show director, Kinsey Fabrizio, senior VP CES and membership, and of course the president and CEO of the Consumer Technology Association, Gary Shapiro, welcome back everybody. It is great to get the gang back together.

  Gary Shapiro (01:30):

  Thanks, James. The band has returned for another great show.
  
  Kinsey Fabrizio: It's great to be back on the pod.
  
  John T. Kelley: Likewise.
  
  James Kotecki: Gary, I want to start maybe with you for just a general sense of where we are heading into CES 2024. This event has come a long way. It's been through a lot. We've got the pandemic hopefully well in the distance behind us. What does CES mean in 2024?
  
  Gary Shapiro (02:00):

  Well, each CES actually kicks off the new year with optimism and hope, and we gather the most important and enthusiastic innovators from around the world, the CXOs from the biggest companies and the startups together. They come from all over the world, all to Las Vegas, where we use three of the largest convention centers in the country and multiple hotels. So they could get together in a very efficient way with the average person seeing, having about 29 meetings and they could see what's out there. They will not only have relationships, but they'll have discovery, serendipity.
  
  (02:30)
  
  They will get together and verticals will see each other and realize that innovation is about putting together new ideas from across the spectrum in a way which serves mankind, serves industry, serves business, and just allows the economy to move forward with innovation driving it, which is especially important in the United States, but it's also important to the world.
  
  James Kotecki (03:00):

  And the reason this is such a big event is because the reason this is such an important event is because it literally is a big event. Can you give us some more numbers just to help us understand the size and scope of where we are at CES 2024?
  
  Gary Shapiro: This is big, and it's definitely even bigger than last year. We have double-digit growth. We're up to about over 3,500 exhibitors and there'll be, believe it or not, in about 2.4 million net square feet of exhibit space across these facilities. And that is a couple of dozen football fields worth of space. No one can see the whole show. We expect to attract about 130,000 people from around the world and over one out of three of those people from me, from outside the United States.
  
  (03:30)
  
  We'll also get several thousand important media like yourself that come to cover the world and expand its reach way beyond the people who show up physically. And of course you could see that from our website and social media as well.
  
  James Kotecki (04:00):

  And, Gary, I want to stay with you for just another minute here because again, CES has a theme. Human security, again, is on the agenda. Human security for all in fact is the name of that theme. That was the theme at CES 2023. So what does it mean here now that we head into CES 2024?
  
  Gary Shapiro (04:30):

  Although CES is not open to consumers, ultimately the products there do get to consumers. About 60 to 70% are aimed at consumers. There's a lot of business to business as well. But the fact is the United Nations for several years has had these sustainability goals aimed at government. And sustainability is the overall theme in a sense that we're all working towards to leave the world better for our children and grandchildren. But last year or 2023 CES, we partnered with United Nations and relevant bodies and focused on these human securities or rights, the right to clean air, clean water, the right to not be hungry, to have access to food, the right to healthcare, the right to community.
  
  (05:00)
  
  There were seven of these and now there's a new one, there's an eighth if you will. And that is something that we are happy to announce with the United Nations recently at the opening of the UN General Assembly, and that is the right to access technology, which allows us to have all these rights come to play. So we'll see a lot of technology shown which connect people to, for example, food and how to make that in an efficient way, how to do it closer to your home, how to do it in your home even water.
  
  (05:30)
  
  We had seen a lot of breakthroughs there. So you can get basically water from air or clean water healthcare way throughout the show and some of the other things which allow people to get together, communicate, and just be more human if you will, in a sense that everyone, no matter what country you live in, can and should have these human securities and technology enables it. I'll say for example, something like healthcare where you have a shortage of doctors and healthcare workers around the world, technology is absolutely essential to filling these huge gaps so people can get healthcare. We see that at CES.
  
  James Kotecki (06:00):

  I mean, everybody who's associated with CES, I'm sure has long understood that technology is a fundamental part of the human experience. But to see that enshrined by the United Nations as this fundamental. So that is now an eighth kind of human right. Am I saying that right?

  Gary Shapiro: Well, they call them human securities. We call them rights. That means you should be secure in this and you should feel good about your life, which something we all kind of want is security. That's what solve a lot of the world's problems if everyone felt that. But obviously it's like Maslow's hierarchy of needs. You need to be able to sustain yourself with food and water and obviously healthcare and all the other things. And it goes up into community, in a sense of community. And that's what technology is enabling all these different human securities.
  
  James Kotecki (06:30):

  So we're understanding the size of the show and what it means to the world and even to humanity, and it's very exciting. And John, I want to bring you in now and talk from the exhibitor and the participant perspective that many people who are going to be engaged in Las Vegas at CES 2024. What does it mean to them?

  
  John T. Kelley (07:00):

  Well, what we've learned the last couple of years coming out of COVID is that being face-to-face has matters. It's important. It's important to convene whether you're part of the tech industry or some of the other adjacent industries that come to CES to meet together to discuss how technology is solving some of these problems to be under one roof. I mean, we meet for four days in Las Vegas and the amount of business that gets done in that short period of time is incredible. We hear on average that the average exhibitor has 29 meetings during CES.
  
  (07:30)
  
  So the efficiency of being in one place in Las Vegas to meet and to partner to discuss ideas, there's nothing like it. I think that's something that we hear time and time again from exhibitors right now sitting a few weeks out from CES, the enthusiasm is incredible. We're seeing exhibitors sending out press releases, we're getting media inquiries. Our numbers look really strong as Gary indicated. So I think there's a lot of general excitement for CES 2024, and we're excited to see everybody in Las Vegas.
  
  James Kotecki (08:00):

  Every time that I do an interview, I also do interviews at CES as all of you know in the C Space Studio over at Aria. Everybody that I talk to always consistently, they're wearing sneakers because they've been running around to meetings all day before and after my interviews, and that's what they tell me that they're doing the entire time that they're at CES. And they're all usually tired, but in a good way because they've had so many interesting and productive meetings and they keep coming back year after year because they get to do that.
  
  (08:30)
  
  But I would like to do something that we did last year with you, Kinsey last year on this episode, this kind of triumvirate episode of the show where we had the three of you on the podcast last year. Kinsey, you took us on kind of a verbal virtual tour of the different sections of CES. And so I'd love for you to be able to do that again and just take us through and help us understand how things are laid out and all the different industries and sections that people might be able to experience there.

  Kinsey Fabrizio: I'm happy to do that again. Do you have a favorite category, James, because I could start with that location.
  
  James Kotecki (09:00):

  Well, of course, I have to start with C Space over at Aria.
  
  Kinsey Fabrizio: C Space?
  
  James Kotecki: Of course.
  
  Kinsey Fabrizio (09:30):

  We'll start with the Aria. So the Aria is where we have C Space, and this is the area for content, entertainment, media, advertising. You can find all of the big brands there. We have conference programming programmed by CTA as well as our partners over at the Aria. It's a very exciting part of the show. We have several other locations too that I'll talk through. We'll move over to the Venetian. This is a very important part of CES and a very important venue because our keynotes happen at the Venetian and we'll talk about those in a little bit.
  
  But we also have Eureka Park in the Venetian. They are on the lower level. This is our area for startups. There'll be over a thousand startups in Eureka Park. It's one of the most exhilarating and exciting parts of the show. You truly see the global startup community come together there.
  
  (10:00)
  
  If you go to the level up in the Venetian, you'll find food tech, smart home. Accessories will be there. And then also our global pavilions will be there. We have beauty tech and sports tech over in the Venetian. So very exciting and fun categories. If we move over to the Las Vegas Convention Center, there are three key halls there where we have exhibits. So the West Hall is where we have all of our automotive and mobility tech and new venue alert outside of the West Hall.
  
  (10:30)
  
  In the West Plaza, we'll have some outdoor exhibits that will be new this year. Super Now will be out there and they'll be showcasing their EV toll technology. And Mercedes-Benz will also be out there. And that's in addition to the self-driving demo tracks that we always have outside of West Hall. So West Hall is all about mobility.
  
  (11:00)
  
  You'll see auto tech, marine tech, ag and construction tech. It's very exciting. If you move on to Central Hall, this is where you're going to find our traditional big AV and gaming brands at CES. So think Samsung and LG, Panasonic, Bosch. This is Sony. This is where these companies showcase their products. It's a very lively part of the show and it's always somewhere that I encourage everyone to get to.
  
  (11:30)
  
  Outside of Central Hall, in Central Plaza is another wonderful part of the show. This is where  the Google booth is. Everybody probably knows right where I'm talking about. There are some newcomers to that part of the show as well. Walmart will be out there and some other exciting new exhibitors. So definitely check out that part as well. And then if you move to North Hall, one of my favorite categories of tech is in North Hall, Digital Health.
  
  (12:00)
  
  I truly love this category of technology. It's amazing to see how tech is transforming the healthcare industry. You'll find exhibitors like Abbott and Withings, EssilorLuxottica, first time CES exhibitor will be there, Resmed, Moderna. It's really going to be a unique and informative and educational part of the show. Additionally, in North Hall, we have smart cities, we have AI, robotics, and there'll be some overflow from West Hall of Automotive and Mobility Tech as well. And sustainability.

  (12:30)

  We showcase sustainability solutions in North Hall as well.

  James Kotecki: And look, I mean I assume that people who listen to CES Tech Talk by and large are people who are probably familiar with CES, but if there's going to be one episode of this podcast that people should send to their friends to help them understand CES, people who might not know CES yet, it probably should be this episode. And so for those people who are listening to this episode, have never been to CES before, I just want to reemphasize here. This is huge.

  (13:00)

  The way I describe CES to people,  my friends, is picture the biggest convention hall you've ever been to and there's five of them. And so Gary said earlier, you can't see all of the show two point something million square feet or something incredible like that.And it's growing, right? So, Kinsey, what are the sectors that are actually expanding this year at CES 2024? Because it just keeps getting bigger.
  
  Kinsey Fabrizio (13:30):

  Yeah, it does. Well, the first one we mentioned, C Space. We've actually expanded into the Cosmo Hotel this year, which is new. We've heard from exhibitors for a while that they wanted us to expand into that area. We were able to do it and we're accommodating some new exhibitors over there. Disney will be over there, Reddit will be over there. And many popular brands in the entertainment space. I mentioned West Plaza, outside of West Hall. That is a new venue for us. We'll be having outdoor exhibits there. Make sure to check those out. And then you'll be able to find our design and source technology in the Westgate at CES 2024.

  James Kotecki (14:00):

  Wow. So the next question I really want to bring all of you in on, which is we're talking about the exhibitors, the exhibit space, the meetings. CES is also about keynote speeches, and we've had some very important keynote speeches at CES over the years. Who are some of the keynote speeches that you're all looking forward to? Let's go Gary, John, Kinsey for this answer.
  
  Gary Shapiro (14:30):

  Well, certainly having the world's biggest retailer, Walmart CEO, Doug McMillon rather is huge for us. And Walmart doing something at CES with an activation is pretty exciting. I look forward to seeing that. Also, the number one consumer electronics retailer that's dedicated to consumer technology in the country, Best Buy's Corie Barry will be speaking at our leaders in technology dinner with a lot of policymakers and other people there from around the world. And that'll be interesting. That's more of an interview format with the head of Fortune, Alan Murray.
  
  (15:00)
  
  He's a great interviewer and she's done some pretty amazing things in the last few years and her perspective on what's hot in the future and her passions will be really great to hear.

  John T. Kelley: Well, for me, the pre-show keynote, actually starts on January 8th where Siemens CEO, Roland Busch will discuss how they work with leading brands to improve how we live, work, and move. So I'm really excited to see that Siemens is a first time keynoter at CES.

  (15:30)

  So really excited to see that. And then the opening keynote, opening morning to the show, our first beauty tech keynote with L'Oreal, that's going to be really exciting. It's a new category. It's a growing category at CES, so that's really exciting to see it as well.

  Kinsey Fabrizio: Honestly, I'm excited for all of them, but I'll call out a few. Gail Boudreaux, who's the CEO of Elevance Health, I am really excited to see her. I mentioned health as being one of my favorite categories at CES, so I can't wait to hear what she has to say about the future of healthcare.

  (16:00)

  I'm also really excited for Kisun Chung of HD Hyundai. We had a great trip to Korea and it was wonderful to see that company in action. So looking forward to hearing them on the keynote stage. And then of course, Qualcomm, Intel, Nasdaq, they're all going to be amazing.

  James Kotecki (16:30):

  And of course, CES is a place to make news, to break news. So we're expecting some really high profile talks coming out from all of the folks that you're mentioning. And the production values are always incredible. So those are definitely going to be things not to miss.

  Kinsey Fabrizio: Absolutely. And one more... Sorry, I forgot to mention.

  James Kotecki: Oh, go ahead.

  Kinsey Fabrizio: Evan Spiegel, the CEO of Snap will be keynoting in C Space.

  James Kotecki: Great.

  Kinsey Fabrizio: And that's just going to be a wonderful, wonderful presentation.

  James Kotecki: Wow.

  Gary Shapiro: And we also have several hundred other people speaking on panels that are very specific subjects or broad subjects. We have a hall focus on public policy. The world is looking at things like artificial intelligence and other things saying, "What do we do about this?" Here's the good things and here's the problems.

  (17:00)

  So we actually have policymakers that are making the decisions come speak, and they're speaking with real people in business, which actually makes a difference. As a matter of our own policy, we present different views there even.

  If they disagree with our own because we are a platform and we feel a certain editorial responsibility to make sure that everyone is heard when sense of different views.

  John T. Kelley (17:30):

  I was going to say that is a good point, Gary. At CES, in addition to the keynotes, the show also features more than 250 conference sessions. Some of the topics Gary just mentioned and over 800 speakers. So there's a lot of discussions taking place, a lot of thought leadership at CSS as well.

  James Kotecki: Yeah. And of course that policy aspect is key. I think people who maybe wander by a CES marquee in Las Vegas might not understand the connection between CES and the Consumer Technology Association, which is of course the organization that owns and produces it, which is of course a policy group out of DC, which is setting the pace for consumer technology policy. So it's obviously all interesting things to do there.

  John T. Kelley (18:00):

  Thanks for raising that.

  Gary Shapiro: James, that's an important point because actually the CES is one of the most important global events. It's one of the few that's based in the United States, but we are a US and Canada based trade association, and that's our membership. So we're fighting in US and Canada for good policies, which favor innovation, and we try to balance between where China is. They don't focus on the individual at all. There's no privacy. They have great data sets, which is important for AI. And then you have Europe, which is very focused on privacy. Less so on innovation.

  (18:30)

  We try to be right in the middle like Goldilocks and the Three Bears. That's what we're advocating for in Congress is that we have a very pro innovation policy. Government regulations should set the guardrails. Business should know what's legal. We shouldn't have lawyers taking over the country with a litigation tax. And those are the things we're advocating for. But we talk about them, but we do present the all sides.

  James Kotecki (19:00):

  So an international viewpoint from a US perspective, I suppose, certainly Las Vegas provides a US location for all of this to take place, but it is an international show. CES 2024 is going to see a lot of international visitors. I believe Gary alluded to the percentage of international visitors earlier. But, John, can you give us some more numbers there to help understand the scope of the international aspects to CES 2024?

  John T. Kelley (19:30):

  Yeah. That's a great point. One of the values of CES is it truly is a meeting point for the global industry. As Gary indicated about a third of our attendees come from outside the United States. So last year that number exceeded 40,000. And nowhere is this more pronounced than in Eureka Park as Kinsey indicated. So in Eureka Park, you see many of the country pavilions like Italy, the Netherlands, France, Israel, Ukraine, Romania. There'll be a Romanian pavilion there, a Polish pavilion there as well.

  (20:00)

  Anecdotally, I reviewed many of the contracts that come through for exhibitors. And last night as I was looking at the contracts, I saw two come through from countries that don't necessarily have a large presence at CES, but these companies are coming because they see value in CES and see value in meeting with the global tech ecosystem. And those two countries, one was from Sri Lanka and one was from Uruguay. And so, again, these companies are making a choice to come to Las Vegas because they understand the entire global tech ecosystem will be there. And so I think that just speaks to the global nature of the show and why CES is so important.

  James Kotecki (20:30):

  Yeah, absolutely. This is just such a massive thing. As I keep saying, nobody could possibly see all the things that we're mentioning. Gary said, "You can't see the whole show." We're talking about so many exhibitors, keynotes, conference sessions, international opportunities, and of course all the individual meetings that one could have. So Kinsey, let's go to you first. How do you recommend that people even start to approach the possibilities of CES, given that this is really only taking place, the actual physical part of CES only takes place over a few days in Las Vegas and they can't do it all?

  Kinsey Fabrizio (21:00):

  Yeah. Well, look, there's a couple things that people can do. If you physically can't walk through the entire show, though you could probably try, I would definitely tune into the podcast and the interviews that you do, James.

  James Kotecki: Thank you.

  Kinsey Fabrizio: And hear from some of the great voices at CES, but also we have an anchor desk that we will livestream content interviews with exhibitors, product announcements over three days during CES, and you can tune into that on our website.

  (21:30)

  That's a great way to hear and understand what's happening at the show if you're in meetings and you don't get to see everything and be everywhere. You can also follow us on our social channels. We pump out a lot of information during those four days of CES. So if you follow us there, you'll be able to really stay in the know while you're there having all your meetings and doing your important business.

  Gary Shapiro (22:00):

  Well, I'd like to add to that because one of the great ways to see the coolest things at this show is the innovations area. This is a judged area. We had a record number of submissions, several thousand up over 40% over last year, and it's in the Venetian. What it does is we have a different categories of products and we show the ones that the judges have said these are the best products of the show. And that way you could go into one place and see what some judges have said are the really cool products.

  (22:30)

  Of course, every exhibitor thinks their products are the coolest and the best, but the reality is there are some that are really unique and it's just a great overview. It's an area you can go get more information about the products and see who makes them. But obviously just going to some of the biggest exhibits is also very exciting in Central Hall where you see these massive exhibits and companies with a huge number of product lines showing the world and how they want to be seen. This is the top marketers in the world, the top brand names in the world are almost all there. And just seeing that is another must see part of the show.

  John T. Kelley (23:00):

  Another tool that we do offer for attendees is our show app. So you can download the CES 2024 app from both the Android and iOS app store today and start planning your show. So you can search exhibitors, you can search conference sessions, you can start planning your schedule. So that's the best advice I offer to people when they're particularly approaching CES for the first time is, "Where do I start?" I say, "Download the app, start planning in advance so you can at least approach the show with a strategy of how you're going to plan out those four days because it does get pretty busy.

  (23:30)

  And as Kinsey indicated, obviously listen to your podcast, James, because there's a lot of great information here as well.

  James Kotecki: Well, thank you.

  Gary Shapiro: I just want to say on the app, it's something that you don't necessarily... It's just different than it was last year. There's over a dozen improvements we've made, so we think we've listened to our customers and we've come back with something better, and it's something that we're all buzzing about here.

  James Kotecki (24:00):

  Well, speaking of things that people are buzzing about, Gary, you mentioned AI, and I want to dive a little deeper into that topic for a moment. ChatGPT came out, what was it, around Thanksgiving in November of 2022, really just a few months before CES 2023. It was a conversation topic in some of the interviews that I did at CES 2023, and I'm sure now it's going to be in almost every conversation that I have at CES 2024. It probably is going to be in most conversations in general that people are having at CES 2024.

  So what kind of AI advances are you expecting to see at the show? How are you expecting AI to influence what happens at CES and the conversations people have there?

  Gary Shapiro (24:30):

  Well, A and I are probably the two most common letters that'll be used by exhibitors at the show, and they'll be surprising us with a range of things. There's no question about that. We'll see that in everything from digital twins to all sorts of robotics, other autonomic systems, self-driving vehicles. A lot of machine learning platforms like e-commerce, software development, and so many other things.

  (25:00)

  But where we definitely will see it is Amazon. We'll be talking about it at Tech West, AMD, the great chip company will also be there as well. BlueSkeye AI. It's in their name at Tech East. Neron will be talking about what they're offering as well. Mound.AI as well. But really it'll be hundreds of exhibitors. We'll be talking about AI. AI is not a physical hardware product. It is something that's inside there. And what it does, especially, and as you mentioned, generative AI for the masses is just a little bit more in the year old right now.

  (25:30)

  Now, it's an opportunity not only for things like running your office more efficiently, which I know a lot of iOS are excited about and freeing up people's time to do a lot of other higher level work and creative things and collaboration. But it's also something that consumers want to see some benefits from soon. And they're certainly seeing that look on highways now. A lot of the new cars now have... Basically, they could take over before an accident occurs. That's really, really helpful for saving lives. So we're already seeing it for consumers, but we'll see more of it at CES.

  James Kotecki (26:00):

  I want to start to think about the different ways that different parts of the tech world meet and collaborate at CES. That's obviously a physical location at the beginning of every year where these kind of meetings and collaborations can really happen. I want to ask all of you, starting with you, John, what are two different industries or technologies that you hope might actually come together at CES or have an initial conversation that sparks something innovative down the road?

  John T. Kelley (26:30):

  Well, I consider myself somewhat of a fashioned forward individual, if you will.

  James Kotecki: No doubt. No doubt.

  John T. Kelley: So I'm really excited to see... Or I think there's a real big opportunity for the fashion industry to connect with the tech industry. And you're starting to see this in how products are designed, the different types of materials companies are using when they design their products, how they connect with their consumers, how they each source their product, how they tell that story. I just feel like there's a real big opportunity there to tell that story as CES.

  (27:00)

  So I'm excited to see that grow in the future.

  Gary Shapiro: Yeah. John has been pushing for a separate exhibit area for his shoe collection.

  John T. Kelley: We don't have the space.

  James Kotecki: That's right. You need a few million square feet.

  John T. Kelley: That's right.

  Gary Shapiro: Million square shoes.

  Kinsey Fabrizio: That's pretty funny.

  James Kotecki: Kinsey, do you have an answer for that question?

  (27:30)

  Kinsey Fabrizio: I do. I do. Beauty tech I think is just so exciting to have it at CES. I'm excited about how that might converge with many other categories at the show, like health tech, for example. And so I think we are in for some exciting announcements there. L'Oreal is going to be fantastic. Shiseido first time exhibitor at CES, another big beauty brand will be in the Venetian. So I'm looking forward to those two potential convergences.

  Gary Shapiro (28:00):

  Well, I also think that I've written a few books about innovation, and this is a theme that every company is a technology company. They have to innovate to survive, they have to pivot. And that's something we'll see at CES. One of the ones I think has been really successful at CES, which just continues to grow is C Space as Kinsey mentioned earlier, where you have the content world. These are creative types and all sorts of content that has been enabled by the internet and other things, which has continued to explode and it's global.
  
  (28:30)

  But the US is doing very well as a content creator. That and the technology world have to collaborate. And the third group that's there, the chief marketing officers, the marketing community because they have to figure out lightning speed what's the best way to market their products? Especially because the first ones that get into a new marketing media are the ones that really get the value from it.
  
  The last ones are paying the most and they've already left behind for the next one. So it's such a rapidly changing world for marketers that CES, it's not only... It's one of the world's greatest marketing events and a must attend event for marketing now from every industry.

  (29:00)

  It's in a sense, when they talk about CES now, I keep hearing it from other journalists that this is the largest auto show in the world. But it's certainly for the US.

  It's the largest gathering of people from outside the United States for any reason inside to come to the United States. But there's a magic that occurs there. And you were talking earlier about how you could describe CES. To me, it was like when I was, years ago, a few decades working on HDTV, and people say, "Well, what's so special about HDTV?" I'd say, "Well, it's kind of like ice cream. I could tell you how cold it is and how it's sweet and different tastes. But you have to experience ice cream."

  (29:30)

  Same thing with CES. Same thing with HDTV. Once you experience it, you totally understand it, you get it. And you are optimistic about the future of the world, where we're going and our ability to solve fundamental problems, whether it's in healthcare or education, food delivery, clean water, you name it. And that's what the CES is about.

  James Kotecki (30:00):

  Well, I love the call-outs to marketing in C Space, which is of course my home base personally at CES every year. I think that C Space is also just really about storytelling. And the story of CES overall is increasingly important as we've all been discussing on this episode of the podcast. And so as we wrap up here, and of course we could keep going, and I know people are going to be excited to come to CES after this episode because you've been saying so many great things about it and so much important information about CES 2024.

  (30:30)

  But I want maybe to have all of you maybe predict what the story coming out of CES 2024 might be. So can you predict what CES 2024 might actually be remembered for? And we'll do this as another round-robin. Kinsey, we'll start with you, John, and then Gary will give you the last word. What will CES 2024 be remembered for, do you think?

  Kinsey Fabrizio: I think it's going to be remembered for how AI is transforming every single vertical of technology. And I think there's going to be so many unique stories and announcements that come out across the entire show and the tech ecosystem.

  (31:00)

  John T. Kelley: Yeah. And I agree with that. I mean, it's hard to argue against that. I do think AI will be the story of CES this year. But as Kinsey indicated, it's not just generative AI, which has obviously been in the news for the past year, it's how AI is transforming all the vertical markets at CES. You'll see how it shows up in healthcare and the automotive space, at C Space, all the innovations that are coming out of Eureka Park from the startups and how they're leveraging artificial intelligence.

  (31:30)

  So I think that we're at an important place in history where artificial intelligence will change how we interact with our products and technologies and each other in the future. And I think that will be on full display at CES 2024.

  Gary Shapiro: I agree, honestly, but I was told as a speaker once that people don't remember anything you say, but they remember how you made them feel. And I think CES will make the people that come there and experience it, feel hopeful for the future in a world that's increasingly divided with friction and tension, and even in our own country and election coming up, interest rates, high recession, all the bad news, which dominates our life.

  (32:00)

  It's nice to go somewhere, feel good, feel good about the technology, solving the world's problems, and about the people and the relationships behind that technology, which are real people trying to do good for the world. And that's the kind of people that come to see us.

  They see a better future and they want to spend their lives working towards it. And that's what makes CES, makes me feel great, and that's why I've dedicated my career to making this the place the catalyst for innovation, which will make the world better.

  (32:30)

  I love CES. I love the fact that people come and cover it like yourself, and I just love what it will do for the world. My only regret in life is I won't be around for the CES 50 years from now.

  James Kotecki: Well, maybe with some of the innovation you will be, Gary, so we'll get back to you in-

  Gary Shapiro: 3D image.

  James Kotecki: We'll get back to you in 50 years on that. Well, listen, it's so great to have you all on the show, Gary Shapiro, Kinsey Fabrizio, John T. Kelly, all from the Consumer Technology Association, which owns and produces CES.

  (33:00)

  Thank you all so much for joining us today on CES Tech Talk.

  Gary Shapiro: Thank you, James. Glad to get the word out.

  James Kotecki: Yes.

  John T. Kelley: See you at CES.

  James Kotecki: We'll see you at the show.

  John T. Kelley: See you at CES.

  James Kotecki: Well, that's our show for now, but there's always more tech to talk about. As I said, this is the last episode before CES 2024, but subscribe to the show so you don't miss content from CES 2024 and beyond.

  (33:30)

  Hit that YouTube subscribe button. Leave a comment, follow on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, iHeartMedia, or wherever you're getting this show. You can get even more CES and prepare for Vegas at ces.tech. That's ces.tech. You can find me at CES itself hosting the C Space Studio over at Aria. Come by and say hello or watch the live stream.

  (34:00)

  CES Tech Talk is produced by Nicole Vidovich and Mason Manuel, recorded by Andrew Lynn, and edited by Third Spoon. Thanks also to Eric Kirkland and John Lindsay for their recording help this season. I'm James Kotecki. Always grateful to be with you talking tech on CES Tech Talk.