The pandemic continues to challenge 2022 event planners. Here’s what we’ve heard. The Consumer Electronics Show Deletes a Day Las Vegas Convention Center Wednesday, January 5 to Friday, January 7 Toy Fair’s new metaverse programming will get toy industry professionals thinking about tech, and at CES, it was expected that tech professionals would ponder children’s toys. But just days before the show started, no one knew just how many tech professionals would arrive in Las Vegas. Because of the Omicron surge, a number of big companies had backed out, including Microsoft, Google, General Motors, Amazon, Twitter, BMW, Procter &Gamble, and Meta Platforms Inc. (formerly known as Facebook). On January 3, show organizers reported that attendees were still decideding whether to travel to Las Vegas or participate in the
virtual show, an option announced last summer. In addition to the safety measures already in place, the Consumer Technology Association eliminated activities planned for Saturday, January 8, cutting the four-day event down to three. CES usually draws more than 170,000 attendees and 2,200 exhibitors, and up to 30 percent come from foreign countries. After earning a reputation as a launch pad for the latest in consumer gadgetry, CES is becoming more of bellwether for longer-term trends, including self-driving cars and artificial intelligence. This year, new categories included NFTs, space technology, and the metaverse.
Spielwarenmesse Moves Forward with Expected Lower Attendance Numbers Nuremberg Exhibition Center, Bavaria, Germany Wednesday, February 2 through Sunday, February 6 In early February, exhibitors, visitors and media from Europe and around the world are scheduled to meet in Nuremberg again. Despite the pandemic, “numerous important, international events have proven that they can protect their participants and, at the
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