The Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) has announced that verified attendance at its 2015 International CES reached a record 176,676 industry professionals and that it will impose stricter registration procedures for the 2016 International CES to cap attendance at about 176,000.
The CEA also noted that 48,833 of the attendees came from outside the U.S. and that the annual consumer electronics show hit a number of other records with more than 3,600 exhibitors, more than 2.23 million net square feet of exhibit space and 6,952 media and analyst attendees.
The show also racked up 703,602 mentions of #CES2015 during the show with 7.51 billion total potential Twitter impressions.
Faced with growth that has produced long lines at some venues for keynote speeches, press conferences and taxis, the CEA is establishing procedures to cap attendance at a level comparable to the 2015 CES.
Under the new rules, nothing will change for those who attended the 2014 or 2015 event. But new attendees or those returning after a two year absence will be subject to tighter requirements and will have to submit additional material to demonstrate their eligibility.
“This means that although individuals may have qualified for registration in previous years, they must resubmit credentials to qualify for the 2016 CES,” the group said.
“With the growth of the consumer technology industry and the parallel growth of the International CES comes an increase in the qualified registrant base for our show,” explained said Karen Chupka, senior VP, International CES and corporate business strategy in a statement. “While these individuals are qualified industry professionals, we are reaching space capacity and simply can’t accommodate every qualified individual to our show. We take seriously our efforts to make sure CES attendees have a positive experience. Enhanced credentialing procedures will enable us to ensure that qualified attendees can participate in our show and conduct business while providing a high-quality experience for all. These efforts also will allow us to improve some of the logistical and operational challenges that come with producing and attending such a large event.”
Registration for the 2016 CES will open on July 8.
