01-08-02, 04:08 AM
It's hard to tell what the sour economy will do to overall attendance at this year's CES, which officially gets underway today in Las Vegas, but the sponsors of the annual event say some records have already been broken.
According to the Consumer Electronics Association, the 2002 CES will launch with a record breaking 1.2 million net square feet of exhibit space, which includes a new pavilion for the gaming industry and big exhibits for wireless companies.
This year's CES will bring about 2,000 exhibitors and more than 100,000 attendees. CEA said attendee pre-registration was on par with the last several events held during the past couple of years.
As of Dec. 26, international pre-registration had eclipsed 2001 numbers by nearly 1,000 attendees and surpassed 2000 numbers by 30 percent, the organization said. Exhibitor registration for this year's CES also increased 15 percent when compared to 2001 numbers.
DirecTV and EchoStar are making a splash at this year's event, along with their respective consumer electronics partners. The companies' proposed $25.8 billion merger should also be a highlight at the first-ever SkyFORUM at CES, taking place Wednesday afternoon.
For extensive coverage of CES, check out SkyRETAILER's daily updates at: www.skyretailer.com. (http://www.skyretailer.com.)
From <a href="http://www.skyreport.com" target=none>SkyReport</a> (Used with permission)
According to the Consumer Electronics Association, the 2002 CES will launch with a record breaking 1.2 million net square feet of exhibit space, which includes a new pavilion for the gaming industry and big exhibits for wireless companies.
This year's CES will bring about 2,000 exhibitors and more than 100,000 attendees. CEA said attendee pre-registration was on par with the last several events held during the past couple of years.
As of Dec. 26, international pre-registration had eclipsed 2001 numbers by nearly 1,000 attendees and surpassed 2000 numbers by 30 percent, the organization said. Exhibitor registration for this year's CES also increased 15 percent when compared to 2001 numbers.
DirecTV and EchoStar are making a splash at this year's event, along with their respective consumer electronics partners. The companies' proposed $25.8 billion merger should also be a highlight at the first-ever SkyFORUM at CES, taking place Wednesday afternoon.
For extensive coverage of CES, check out SkyRETAILER's daily updates at: www.skyretailer.com. (http://www.skyretailer.com.)
From <a href="http://www.skyreport.com" target=none>SkyReport</a> (Used with permission)