CTA has no “new information at this time” about FCC and FTC participation at CES 2022 “but will follow up as participation is confirmed,” emailed a spokesperson Monday. CES 2020 drew a large contingent of FCC and FTC members, including the chairs of both agencies (see 2001070054). No FCC or FTC people were among the show’s list of featured speakers as of Monday. CES 2022 opens Jan. 5 for a four-day run at the Las Vegas Convention Center, and will be “a little bit smaller” in attendee and exhibitor participation than before the COVID-19 pandemic, CTA President Gary Shapiro told a Nov. 18 media briefing (see 2111180040).

Registration opens Dec. 9 for the digital component of CES 2022, Jean Foster, CTA senior vice president-marketing and communications, told a virtual media briefing Thursday. All the Jan. 4 media day news conferences will be livestreamed on the digital platform, and available for on-demand playback through the end of January, she said. “A lot” of the CES 2022 conferences, though not all, will also be livestreamed, and those that are not will be recorded onsite, available for playback for nearly a month after the event, said Foster. “The goal is to bring as much of this to you as possible,” she said. “Right now in Las Vegas, masks are required indoors,” said Karen Chupka, CTA executive vice president-CES. “We’re really working through what our protocols are going to be on this, because we know some of this is shifting and this is being driven by local guidelines.” CTA will be “finalizing our guidelines in December, and we’ll make sure that we provide all those details well in advance so that everybody understands clearly what is going to be expected at showtime,” she said. Social distancing measures will be in place “across all of our venues,” said Chupka. There will be wider aisles, plus designated one-way aisles, she said. “We’re also adding extra space between our seats in our keynote rooms and all of our conference venues.” CES imposed a COVID-19 vaccine mandate early on, and one change to CES 2022 will be the requirement to show a badge to ride the shuttle buses as a means of confirming that an attendee’s vaccination status has been verified, said Chupka. CTA will publish a CES 2022 floor plan at the end of November, she said. CES 2022, like all global trade shows in the current environment, “will be a little bit smaller” in attendee and exhibitor participation than before the pandemic, said CTA President Gary Shapiro. “That’s just expected,” he said. “A lot of people can’t travel or are uncomfortable traveling.” The show “is getting very healthy registrations, but we’ll be lower” than the last pre-pandemic CES in 2020, said Shapiro. “We’re trying to be safe as a show. We want people to be comfortable.” CTA also wants to set realistic “expectations,” he said, “because we’re big as an organization on honesty and transparency and disclosure.”

Clear updated its mobile app, enabling users to add their COVID-19 vaccine booster shots to their proof of vaccination credentials, said the identity verification platform Tuesday. Users can scan a QR code like those issued by New York and California, directly link to a vaccine provider in Clear network or upload a Centers for Disease Control and Protection vaccine card to the system, it said. CTA is requiring proof of vaccination through the Clear app for CES 2022 (see 2109160016), and is offering Clear as one of four options for Thursday’s Hall of Fame dinner in New York (see 2111040059).

CTA picked Web Summit, the annual tech conference in Lisbon, as “digital platform provider” for CES 2022's online component, said the association Tuesday. Web Summit’s event operating system, Summit Engine, “is a cloud-based platform, built to support events with both in-person and digital audiences,” it said. Web Summit, which opens Monday for its 2021 run, has been “quietly building” its Summit Engine software “for nearly a decade to augment our physical events, so moving them fully online during the pandemic was easy for us,” said CEO Paddy Cosgrave. Registration for CES 2022's online component opens in December, said CTA. Picking Web Summit cemented CTA’s decision not to return to Microsoft, which produced CES 2021's all-digital content.

Abbott CEO Robert Ford will be the first healthcare executive in CES history to take the main keynote stage when he appears at CES 2022 in early January, said CTA Tuesday. Abbott scientists, engineers, inventors and partners will join Ford on stage to discuss “the technology revolution in healthcare,” said the association. Q2 revenue in Abbott’s diagnostics business increased 55% from a year earlier and included $1.3 billion in COVID-19 testing-related sales, Ford told investors on a July 22 earnings call. Abbott drew about 80% of its Q2 COVID testing sales from rapid tests vs. polymerase chain reaction diagnostics, he said. Ford's CES 2022 keynote is scheduled for 9 a.m. PST Jan. 6 at the Palazzo.

CES 2022 registration is open for those planning to travel to the physical show Jan. 5-8 in Las Vegas, said CTA Tuesday. Details and registration are due later in the year for the digital event CES that will run “in parallel with the in-person program,” it said. “Digital audiences will have the opportunity to share the spirit of the in-person event and keep their finger on the pulse of the industry.” CTA is expecting more than 1,100 exhibiting companies from “across the globe” to showcase their wares at the Las Vegas Convention Center, it said. That’s about a quarter of the exhibitor base that participated in CES 2020, the last physical show CTA convened before the COVID-19 pandemic rendered CES 2021 a virtual-only show. CES 2022 visitors will need to be fully vaccinated to participate in the show, said the association: “CES is closely monitoring the situation, but at this time a booster shot is not required to attend.”

CTA rescinded its CES 2022 hotel booking policy two weeks after announcing a $150 nonrefundable deposit for each reservation would be collected at booking (see 2108020055), confirmed a spokesperson. The policy "will not be implemented on CES hotel reservations this year as we recognize the need to be flexible in making travel arrangements,” she emailed Tuesday. CTA put the policy in place for the first time to protect the lowest hotel rates “for those who are committed to attending CES in Las Vegas,” and to deter people from booking multiple rooms around the city, only to cancel days before arrival, said the association Aug. 2. Rooms confirmed through onPeak, CTA’s official CES 2022 housing agent, generally require no deposit at booking and can be canceled 72 hours before arrival without penalty, depending on the hotel.

General Motors CEO Mary Barra will share the company’s vision for mass adoption of electric vehicles during the opening keynote Jan. 5 at CES 2022, said CTA Monday. Barra plans to discuss how technology and the “all-electric era will create opportunities for mobility experiences to serve the planet and the people.” Details, including location and time, will be available in the fall, CTA emailed. More than 180 companies from the transportation and vehicle tech industry have committed to CES, including Daimler, Fisker, Turing Motor and Waymo, CTA said. CES 2022 will take place in person in Las Vegas, and digitally, Jan. 5-8.

CES 2022 hotels are available for booking starting Aug. 17 with new policies, including a $150 nonrefundable deposit for each reservation collected at booking, said CTA Monday. This “protects the lowest rates for those who are committed to attending CES in Las Vegas,” it said. “It deters people from booking multiple rooms around the city, only to cancel days before arrival. And it will prevent third parties from booking large blocks of lower rated rooms and reselling them at higher rates.” The deposit is valid “only for the hotel room originally booked,” and can’t be transferred to a different room or to another guest with a different form of payment, said CTA. Through CTA’s “official housing agent,” onPeak, “we are dedicated to ensuring attendees have access to the lowest possible room rates at official CES hotels,” said the association. CTA two weeks ago encouraged attendees to “book directly” now with hotels of their choice “to secure the best rates” (see 2107190005).

CTA announced T-Mobile CEO Mike Sievert as its first CES 2022 keynoter, a year after picking Verizon CEO Hans Vestberg as the first keynoter for virtual CES 2021. Sievert “will discuss 5G innovations for consumers, businesses and thought leadership,” and how 5G advancements will enable people “to work, communicate and learn more efficiently,” said CTA Tuesday. A spokesperson confirmed Sievert will be in-person on the Las Vegas keynote stage.