Things went dark at CES this week … at least for a couple of hours in part of the venue. On Wednesday, a power outage at the Las Vegas Convention Center plunged parts of the building into darkness, including many of the exhibits. Battery-operated equipment such as laptops and phones provided some of the only light.
Power crews were on top of it and got the lights back on as soon as they could. Officials cited this week’s abnormally heavy rains as the culprit. And that wasn’t the only complication from the rain … some of the streets also flooded.
While exhibitors and attendees couldn’t help but feel frustrated, many of them captured the irony of the situation at the world-famous electronics show in a variety of witty tweets and other social media posts. CNET has shared a few of the most clever ones, including “Someone told Alexa to turn out the lights.”
In other news, it seems the events industry does wield some power when it comes to the Apple App Store. Last year after Apple announced changes in its App Review Guidelines that could eliminate third-party trade show and event apps, the meetings industry flooded Apple with their concerns. Amazingly, Apple listened! The revised rule now allows for event app producers to create a single, aggregated app with separate entries for each client event. (See the TSNN article for more details.)
And finally, it’s time to vote for the People’s Choice in EXHIBITOR Magazine’s Portable/Modular Awards. There’s a page picturing all the finalists, and you can vote once per day from now through February 27. The winner will be announced at EXHIBITORLIVE in Las Vegas.