NAB Show 2021 will require proof of COVID-19 vaccination of “all attendees and participants” for the Oct. 9-13 event at the Las Vegas Convention Center, said the association Wednesday. “We think this is a positive step in reducing the spread of COVID-19 and will provide further details on implementation as well as other safety measures under consideration,” it said. Nevada Gov. Steve Sisolak (D) announced this week that large gatherings in the state that screen attendees for proof of vaccinations can forego requiring masks. CTA announced a vaccine requirement a day earlier for CES 2022 in early January, also at the LVCC (see 2108170038). Broadcast industry officials told us the NAB Show's new vaccine requirement doesn’t affect their plans to attend. “I was always planning to go,” said broadcast engineer Tim Sawyer: “I already blindly put my faith in the vaccine.” Sawyer said he wondered about the possibility of attendees using spoofed vaccine cards to get in, but said he’s “not too concerned.” Riverfront Broadcasting owner Doyle Becker told us the new requirement doesn’t change anything for him either: “Still going.” Unanswered questions about the NAB and CTA policies involve where and when attendees will be instructed to show proof of vaccination and whether one dose or two of the Pfizer and Moderna vaccine will be required.
CTA will require CES 2022 participants to show proof of COVID-19 vaccinations to attend the Jan. 5-8 event in person at the Las Vegas Convention Center, said the association on Tuesday. "Vaccines offer us the best hope for stopping the spread of COVID-19,” said President Gary Shapiro. “We are taking on our responsibility by requiring proof of vaccination.” CTA also is weighing whether to accept proof of a positive COVID-19 antibody test as a vaccine alternative and “will share more details on this later,” said the association. The announcement broke months of CTA silence on CES 2022 health and safety protocols amid this summer’s spread of the delta variant but left several questions unanswered. We asked what forms of vaccination proof CTA will require and when, and whether participants will need to be fully inoculated, or would one dose of the Pfizer or Moderna vaccine suffice. We also asked if the vaccine mandate would apply to all show participants, including exhibitor, LVCC and CTA personnel, not just rank-and-file attendees. Finally, we asked about media reports that the Biden administration will recommend booster shots for most Americans eight months after they got their second dose of the Pfizer or Moderna. "We will be sharing more information on how this process will work in the coming months," emailed a CTA spokesperson. "CTA will continue to monitor and evaluate the situation and provide updates as protocols evolve." As for who the proof of vaccination mandate will apply to, "all attendees, exhibitors and support staff who will be on-site at CES in Las Vegas will have to comply with the same requirements as CES attendees," she said. CTA's Tuesday announcement said it expects “some 2000 companies including major brands and start-ups will be in Las Vegas” for CES 2022. The last physical CES in January 2020 attracted 4,400 exhibitors.
CEDIA Expo lost its largest exhibitor Tuesday when Creston joined the growing list of companies pulling out of the Sept. 1-3 show in Indianapolis, due to the pandemic. “In light of the re-escalating COVID health crisis and the spread of the Delta variant, we have made the difficult decision to fully cancel our presence at this year’s CEDIA Expo, including our booth, dealer trainings, press engagements, and social events,” said a memo scheduled to go out to dealers Wednesday. Noting it has been six years since the company attended the custom integration industry’s top trade show, the company said it had been “eagerly anticipating the opportunity to connect with dealers and show off" its latest Crestron Home developments. "Despite our enthusiasm and our investment in the show, however, recent news has forced us to reassess the risks.” Noting it’s unclear how the spread of the delta variant will progress in the coming weeks, “our primary concern is and always will be the well-being of our employees, their families, and our industry partners and friends,” said the company. “We had hoped the 2021 CEDIA Expo would represent a much-needed reinvigoration of our industry. It may still -- but with so much uncertainty, we felt a responsibility to decide our plans sooner rather than later so that partners and peers had actionable information.” John Clancy, executive vice president-residential, told us last week (see 2108130068) the company had all intentions to exhibit because “a lot changed” since 2015, and the company was unable to attend last year’s show that was canceled due to COVID-19. Crestron had taken the largest booth at the 2021 show, partly due to accommodations for COVID-19. The company was requiring employees attending the show to be vaccinated and had mapped out a booth flow that would encourage social distancing. Other high-profile vendors withdrew from the show over the past week, including Samsung Savant, Snap One, Sonos, Sony, Sound United and Legrand AV (see 2108160047).
Logitech was named winner of NPD’s business-to-business channel performance awards for top U.S. revenue and market-share gains in the work-from-home “vertical,” said the research company Monday. Palo Alto Networks won the cybersecurity revenue award, but CrowdStrike was recognized for the biggest cybersecurity market-share advances. This year’s awards focused on categories that helped fuel channel growth over the past year “as companies worked through new workforce dynamics,” including remote and hybrid work, said Kate Roe-Semyon, president of NPD’s B2B technology practice. “Our winners are helping business of all sizes navigate today’s landscape.”
The “tier 1 contract manufacturer” where Sierra Wireless sources the “significant majority” of its cellular modules and gateways has a plant in Vietnam hard hit from a spike in COVID-19 cases, spawning “widespread disruptions” that are severely impeding “our ability to manufacture and ship our products,” said CEO Phil Brace on a Q2 earnings call Thursday, his first since taking the helm last month. Sierra is working with the manufacturer “to subsidize the cost of isolation hotels for their workers with the goal of resuming full production as fast as possible,” he said. It’s also ramping up two additional production sites, including one in Mexico, “to diversify our geographic production and increase our manufacturing resiliency,” he said. Sierra is imposing “strategic” price hikes to help cover some of the additional supply chain costs and investments, “while balancing our need to remain competitive in the market,” he said. “We do believe that the significant challenges we are experiencing in Q3 are temporary. Our demand remains very strong, and I believe we are taking the right actions and initiatives to navigate through them.” Orders that don't ship in Q3 are expected to ship in Q4, and “in some cases,” in Q1 of 2022, “resulting in a solid recovery, subject to COVID-19 externalities,” he said. Sierra is withholding Q3 revenue and profit guidance because “the impact of COVID-19 disruptions in Vietnam will be significant for us,” he said. There’s too much “uncertainty around the pandemic and the continued potential disruptions” to warrant issuing financial guidance, he said. Q3 revenue will be “highly dependent on our manufacturing capacity and output,” said Brace. The Vietnam disruptions started in early July, and there has been “very little, minimal, output from the manufacturing site” in Ho Chi Minh City, where other companies and industries are also “affected,” he said. Layered atop the manufacturing disruptions are bottlenecks in “logistics, shipping and customs,” he said. The stock closed 10.2% lower Friday at $16.47.
Oral arguments before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit in September and October will remain remote, using Zoom for Government, rather than be conducted in person, Clerk Mark Langer said in a notice Friday, citing COVID-19 pandemic health guidance. He said the court will continue to provide an audio feed from oral arguments via the court's YouTube channel.
All Cineplex theaters were reopened July 17 for the first time in nine months, said CEO Ellis Jacob on a Q2 earnings call Thursday. The company bills itself as Canada’s largest film exhibitor. “That first fully reopened weekend in July was our busiest weekend since March 2020,” he said. Two million people visited Cineplex theaters in the last three weeks of July, more than in “the entire first half of 2021,” he said. Cineplex theater attendance is running about 55% above 2019 levels, said Jacob. The company's newly launched CineClub subscription program at $9.99 a month is designed to drive “habitual moviegoing,” post-pandemic, he said. CineClub members get one regular admission ticket a month, with no expiration date, plus the option to buy additional tickets at a discount and get 20% off concession items. “We designed CineClub to appeal to a wide array of guests and entice them to join the theatrical experience more frequently with their friends and family,” said Jacob. “It was no coincidence that we launched CineClub on the heels of our circuit reopening. Now is the time to capitalize on the pent-up demand and make moviegoing even more accessible.” As COVID-19 vaccination numbers rise and restrictions loosen across the country, “we expect that by the fall, we will be close to full capacity in time for the onslaught of blockbuster films scheduled for the back half of the year,” he said. The CEO is convinced that moviegoing is “not disappearing,” he said. “We know that an exclusive theatrical release means more revenue for all stakeholders in every cycle of a movie's life. Although some consumer habits may have changed because of the pandemic and with more streaming content available, it has not dampened the desire to go out and enjoy a shared immersive experience.” The stock soared 22.8% Friday, closing at $12.75.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit altered its protocols for in-person arguments starting with the September court sitting and continuing indefinitely, requiring masks in the National Courts Building, the court said Thursday. Those not fully vaccinated must also observe social distancing, it added. Only counsel "and no more than one attendee whose presence is necessary to assist or supervise arguing counsel are permitted access" to the courtroom, it said. Non-vaccinated people can't enter the courthouse if they tested positive for COVID-19 within the past 14 days, are awaiting COVID test results, have traveled internationally in the past 14 days, are showing any COVID symptoms or had close contact with anyone diagnosed with COVID in the previous 14 days, it said. The Federal Circuit also updated its health and safety certification for in-person arguments, required on the day of the proceedings, and its certification of compliance with the revised protocols for in-person arguments, required ahead of the arguments by all arguing counsel.
The Cable Center's Cable Hall of Fame event is being moved from Oct. 20 to Nov. 15 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, it said Tuesday. The event will air on C-SPAN 3 and C-SPAN.org, it said.
A Walmart store in Rolla, Missouri, reopened, after closing Aug. 5-7 for “cleaning, sanitizing and restocking,” a company spokesperson emailed Monday. Rolla is the county seat of Phelps County, which The New York Timesshows having a "very high test positivity rate" for COVID-19. Responding to whether the temporary closing was COVID-19-related, he declined to give specific details but said the retailer has a home office team that evaluates criteria for stores and the communities it serves. "When that data reaches certain thresholds, we ... proactively close the store for cleaning and sanitizing.” The retailer isn't releasing specific store counts for temporary closures, he said. In addition to regional evaluations, stores and clubs are closed overnight for “enhanced facility cleaning.” Walmart, which offers COVID-19 vaccines at its 5,100-plus stores, is seeing a rise in vaccinations nationwide, the spokesperson said, “as concerns about the Delta variant increase.” He didn’t provide numbers. The spokesperson said Walmart will continue to follow Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines, “which includes fully vaccinated people wearing masks in public indoor settings in counties with substantial or high transmission." In counties and areas with state or local mask mandates, "associates will be required to wear masks inside our facilities.”