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January 7-10, 2008, in Las Vegas, Nevada. I didn’t realize this until after the fact, but this year marked the 25^th anniversary of my first visit to CES. CES has changed a lot in 25 years and sadly I don’t think it’s what it once was. Back in the 80’s, tens of thousands of independent retailers represented a large portion of the consumer electronics distribution channel. Manufacturers needed a show like CES to introduce new products to dealers, and decide what to carry for the coming year. You could actually see exhibitors taking orders from retailers in their booths. Today, a handful of national retailers represent the bulk of the market, and they expect private visits from the manufacturers to sell their lines. The cost of exhibiting at CES (or any show) has continued to rise, and with the consolidation of the market and the emergence of the internet, the value of exhibiting has shrunk. Today, the main job of CES is to generate industry buzz and serve as a press opportunity for the Consumer Electronics industry. Small, innovative companies have very little chance of elevating their message above the noise. As often as not, Mac World, successfully steals the entire news cycle from CES anyway.

Here are some of my favorite consumer gadgets and retail technology from the show: (more)

Las Vegas, Feb 25-26. Digital Signage Expo (DSE). This was the fourth year of the show, which used to be called the Digital Retail Expo. This is one of several shows trying to become the main destination for vendors and customers of Digital Signage and Kiosks Digital Merchandising. The show moved from Chicago to Las Vegas this year, which prompted some discussion in the blogosphere (Bill Gerba and Dave Haynes). The show is making nice progress with more exhibitors and more attendees each year. Most exciting the attendees this year weren’t just integrators looking at Digital Signage as a new industry to enter, but also end users (like retailers and public venue owners) looking to learn more about best practices. If I had to bet on one stand alone Digital Signage trade show to survive, I’d bet on this one right now. (more)

Dusseldorf, Germany February 23-27. Euroshop is held every three years in Germany.

I always get a kick out of the fact that Europe has the largest retail show in the world with over 100,000 attendees and over 1900 booths and they call it EuroShop, while in the US we have a retail show with 15,000 attendees and over 900 booths and we call it GlobalShop. (more)

The next stop on the tour is Chicago for Global Shop. My company MTI has an exhibit here, and the team has been working long hours to get the booth constructed while complying with the all the quirky Chicago exhibitor rules. The show opens tomorrow, and I’ll look forward to posting a recap. If you happen to be attending the show, feel free to stop by booth 3416 and say hello. (more)

Yet another thing we have too much of in the digital merchandising / retail design space is awards. I like to take credit for my teams hard work get recognized for my work just as much as the next guy… OK more than the next guy.

But when is the last time you saw a shopper buy an extra accessory for their IPOD because the display it was on won an award? Worse there are so many awards, that none can really stand out as a special achievement. (more)