The Consumer Technology Association (CTA) made several major show announcements regarding the all-digital CES 2021 slated for January 11-14, 2021. Among the announcements is that Corie Barry, CEO of Best Buy, will be one of the keynote speakers.
CTA president and CEO Gary Shapiro said in a media preview that Barry will discuss how she moved the company to its successful curbside pickup program in just three days when the pandemic forced the closure of Best Buy locations across the U.S.
“CES 2021 will be making history, with our first all-digital show,” said Shapiro. “This new experience will feature more than 1,000 exhibitors from around the world, showcasing the latest trends and innovation in artificial intelligence, 5G, digital health, smart cities, vehicle tech and beyond . Technology will move us forward and CES 2021 will illustrate how innovation paves the way for a brighter tomorrow.”
CTA showed gave a preview of how the digital platform created in partnership with Microsoft will work for attendees.
Keynotes and Conference Sessions
The keynote with Barry will be a conversation with Fortune CEO Alan Murray. Barry will discuss her vision for the future of tech, leading through the pandemic and why diversity and inclusion is good for business.
Barry joins other confirmed CES keynote speakers, including: Verizon’s Hans Vestberg, General Motors’ Mary Barra, AMD’s Dr. Lisa Su and WarnerMedia’s Ann Sarnoff. View the featured speakers page to see the full line-up of speakers at CES 2021.
In addition to the keynote program, CES 2021 will offer over 100 conference sessions. CTA also announced the conference session “Privacy and Trust with Amazon, Google and Twitter”:
- Keith Enright, Chief Privacy Officer, Google
- Damien Kieran, Chief Privacy Officer, Twitter
- Anne Toth, Director, Alexa Trust, Amazon Alexa
Live Anchors
To help navigate the show, CTA announced a live anchor desk will be part of CES 2021 – featuring familiar faces from the tech media world. This “central command” will help attendees navigate the digital experience, hear the latest news and view interviews on critical tech topics. Featured anchors:
- Justine Ezarik, iJustine
- Rich DeMuro, KTLA
- Naomi Kyle, actress/host
- Brian Tong, CNET
“CES 2021 will be a collaborative experience, encouraging connections between audiences and exhibitors from around the world,” said Karen Chupka, EVP, CES, CTA. “We threw out the playbook and decided to not just recreate CES online– but to reimagine it. The digital transformation of our industry has given us opportunity to reach an even larger, global audience and create new experiences for this year and beyond.”
Exhibitors for CES 2021 include tech giants such as Canon, Hisense, Intel, Lenovo, LG Electronics, Panasonic, Philips, Sony, Samsung Electronics, TCL and Voxx, as well as non-traditional tech companies including Bridgestone, Caterpillar, Indy Autonomous Challenge, John Deere, L’Oréal and Procter & Gamble.
