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Photo by: International CES

Once again there’s good news coming out of Vegas — this week’s International CES has once again broken records in number of exhibitors and net square feet of space. Attendance is on track to exceed 150,000.

Every year, the mammoth show draws lots of attention from both the trade show industry and the mainstream media. So here are just a few of the articles that have popped up around the Web about various aspects of this year’s show:

Photo: stockXchng.com

Since this week was a bit light on exhibit industry news, here are some other related tidbits that may interest you.

Here’s a great round-up of iPhone and iPad apps that help manage leads, events, and contacts, whether you’re on the road or in your office.

Ever wondered about how the Consumer Electronics Show got its start, or how the original McCormick Place burned down? Trade shows have a fascinating history, and Exhibit City News has compiled a series of articles that covers some highlights. <link removed due to suspected malware issue>

The top story this week is the trade show industry itself. The Center for Exhibition Industry Research (CEIR) announced that the CEIR Index indicated a 2.7 percent increase in the first quarter of 2012 over the same quarter last year. This also marks the seventh straight quarter of growth, and all four metrics of the index are trending upward: attendance (up 4.6 percent), net square feet, number of exhibitors, and real revenues. One major factor in the quarterly growth was the inclusion of the International Consumer Electronics Show (CES), which was its largest ever.

This weekend marks the 42nd annual celebration of Earth Day. And while the trade show industry has been a bit slow to get on the bandwagon, there are many shows that have made serious strides toward becoming more green.

One of the most impressive examples of a show going green is also one of the largest in the U.S. — the International Consumer Electronics Show (CES). The 2012 CES took a multi-faceted approach, collecting a record amount of materials to recycle and repurpose (totaling about 75 percent of the show’s materials). Those items included:

• More than 20,000 pounds of magnetic banners

A few days ago I came across this blog post by a reporter at Computerworld about his experience at this year’s Consumer Electronics Show (CES). My favorite line is, “What I most remember from CES were fairly random things, the kind of interactions that are the result of sheer serendipity.” He goes on to tell several stories about people he met (many of them off the show floor) with fascinating products or experiences to share.