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It took months to finalize a deal, as we negotiated with platforms unfamiliar with contracting for an event that involved so many exhibitors and the many features we knew would be needed to put on the show. By the summer, we'd decided to team up with Microsoft for its Teams platform, technical and cybersecurity expertise, global scale, and experience in creating compelling digital content. With Microsoft technology, CES 2021 attendees were able to build profiles and select areas of interest for a tailored event experience, complete with content recommendations. Before the show, we had over 70,000 people register and opt in for a "networking experience"—a sign that people were hungry for connection and community, even if that meant logging in from home.

Ironically, while the show was digital, our partnership with Microsoft required frequent trips to its headquarters in Redmond, Washington. Looking back, the trips themselves—taken at the height of COVID—were somewhat surreal. Our team traveled on near-empty airplanes to desolate airports. I later learned that the visible security presence at our hotel wasn't a sign of some highly private celebrity staying on-site, but the hotel's dual function as a quarantine site for COVID patients. I ate too much Chinese takeout and tried to keep my eyes on the prize: a well-executed CES.

The Microsoft team members were consummate professionals and did everything in their power to make things run smoothly. During our December 2020 visit, as we recorded our keynote remarks and other presentations, Microsoft's campus felt like the site of a Hollywood production, complete with beautiful stage settings, multiple cameras, directors, and producers.

Everything seemed perfect, until nature threw a curveball our way. When we returned to Redmond in January for the CES live event, full of anxiety and anticipation, we found howling wind and rain. On January 11, the morning of the first digital CES in history, we left the hotel before six a.m. for the fifteen-minute Uber drive to the Microsoft campus; on the way we saw downed tree limbs and power outages. On arrival, we learned that Microsoft was also experiencing a historic first—the first power outage in its history. Thankfully, the foresight of Microsoft's campus planners saved the day as backup generators hummed to life and saved our digital event. Sometimes, even the best pivots can't beat advance planning and built-in redundancy.

Ultimately, CES 2021 was a triumph. Neither our team nor our various audiences felt the all-digital experience could match the "absolutely overwhelming spectacle of technology and humanity" that comes from wandering our CES Las Vegas convention center halls. But the show still delivered incredible new technology and tantalizing hints into the technology trends animating the industry. We were thrilled when, months later, Trade Show Executive recognized CES 2021 with the Gold 100 Grand Award for best digital event.

CES 2021 had 1,000 virtual exhibits, 150,000 visitors, and 100 programming hours. The show featured rollable phones, transparent screens, sanitizing robots, and vacuum cleaners that could throw away their own waste. Amid a rush to upgrade home technology, CES showed faster-than-ever laptops, high-end headphones, and 8K TVs making the leap from niche technology to the mass market—outpacing even the content available. We saw a big move toward product sustainability—a trend I'll discuss later—with devices like Chipolo's ONE Ocean tracker, built from fishing nets, trawls, and ropes collected in shallow ocean waters, and Panasonic's low-cobalt batteries earning media praise. And in a sign of the times, Razer's Project Hazel gaming "smart mask" concept featured both customizable LED lights and a reusable N95-grade filter. As CNET put it, while "flashy three-story booths and auditoriums full of tech nerds were replaced by highly produced livestreams and virtual pitches from executives," in the end, "it was still CES." Our pivot to the digital world was a success, and our entire team breathed a sigh of well-deserved relief.

While CES 2021 met our brand and customer goals, there was no denying the tough hit financially. We were about as generous as we could possibly be to our exhibitors and incurred a lot of our own costs. We were mindful that, as an industry, we were very lucky—first, because the technology sector as a whole prospered and grew during the pandemic, and second, because our show is held in January, which gave us time to pivot after the virus hit the US.

Of course, as anyone who helped navigate a business through the COVID pandemic can attest, one pivot isn't always enough. We pivoted again when we decided to make CES 2022 a hybrid event—returning to our home in Las Vegas for an in-person show, bolstered by a strong digital presence. The show was the first in-person event of that size since COVID, and it didn't come without criticism. Some people thought it was simply too soon to return to in-person events, with COVID still infecting millions each day globally.

More, some still wrongly blamed CES for bringing COVID to the United States. In spring 2020, a major US public broadcaster had run a national radio piece with an accompanying article speculating that CES was the super spreader event that introduced COVID-19 to the United States. The story, based on an account from just one CES attendee, was initially passed over by several media companies. But once published, it was picked up by scores of media.

I was horrified by the allegation. The story had several inconsistencies, not least of which was the time line: the person making these allegations was at CES for less than twenty-four hours and reported symptoms upon leaving the show. Even more significant, CES 2020 was in early January and COVID-19 cases were not reported anywhere in the US until later in the month, with no cases reported in Las Vegas until March. While the editor ultimately agreed to revise parts of the written story and add context from reputable medical experts, the sensational claims in the original story received vastly more global attention than the revision. Even the CES attendee pushing the story told media he didn't fault CES and that he would consider attending future shows. But the harm had been done. Even as a seasoned trade show veteran, the incident both scarred and scared me. As Warren Buffett once said, "It takes 20 years to build a reputation and five minutes to ruin it." That's especially true in our headline-driven, clickbait environment.