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Be In It @ CES 2023

Sustainability is a huge focus for CES as technology companies are finding more innovative ways to become part of the solution. What is CES doing in 2023 to address some of the most pressing sustainability issues in the industry?

Sustainability will be front and center for hundreds of exhibitors at CES 2023. Global brands like John Deere, 3M, Caterpillar, and Siemens, as well as numerous startups within Eureka Park, will demonstrate how tech innovation can address sustainability issues and challenges.

We expect to see innovation focused on energy conservation and increased power generation, addressing food shortages, creating more sustainable agricultural systems, improving resilience and recovery from natural disasters, powering smart cities, supporting access to clean water, and more.

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Consumer Technology Association

New this year will be content on the creator economy, NFTs, and Web3. What made CES decide to address these topics specifically and what additions to the conference program can we look forward to catching on stage?

Web3 is transforming the internet through blockchain technology by ushering in a new digital economy – and CES 2023 will highlight the latest innovation revolutionizing the web from crypto to NFTs to blockchain.

Our new Web3 category will feature activations from Meta, SK, and many others, with a focus on how associated technologies – including those for metaverse and cryptocurrency—can revolutionize how we live, work, and play in an immersive, inclusive, and distributed virtual universe.

The CES 2023 conference program will feature more than 200 sessions focused on key industry trends. New sessions this year will focus on the creator economy, including NFT’s and Web3.

The show will also feature a new partner program, Web3 BlockChain & Tokenization Pavilion, which will include conference programming. This area of the show, which will be located at the Venetian Expo, will feature 16 international enterprise exhibitors, as well as four daily conference tracks, focused on:

  • Metaverse, NFT, gaming, AR/VR
  • DeFi, stock exchange, crypto, DAO
  • BlockChain & Corporate Use cases CBDC & Regulations
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Consumer Technology Association

Speaking of things to look forward to, which speakers are you most looking forward to hearing from during CES 2023?

CES 2023 has a robust conference program where audiences will hear from industry pioneers and visionaries. The CES keynote stage will feature executives spanning all major industries including the leaders from John Deere, AMD, BMW, and Delta. We can’t wait to hear what major announcements will be made from the CES 2023 stage.

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Consumer Technology Association

CTA reports that CES 2023 will likely be one of the largest in-person, audited business events in the U.S. since early 2020, with 100,000 attendees. The show footprint is on track to grow more than 40% from CES 2022. What is CES doing to prepare for this growth and what innovative changes will we be seeing?

CES 2023 is on track for record post-pandemic sales with more than 2200 exhibitors to date across more than two million net square feet — a 50% larger footprint than CES 2022. We’re excited to keep the CES innovation machine moving forward as our industry recognizes the value of human-to-human interaction and the power of CES to have a business impact. In fact, 94% of CES 2020 exhibitors said their annual sales were influenced by CES.

We have several key areas on the show floor, including more than 1000 startups within Eureka Park, the startup hub at CES. Additionally, CES 2023 will showcase the latest in transportation and mobility, including advancements in electric vehicles and autonomous transportation in a sold-out West Hall at the LVCC. Digital health innovation will debut at CES that will increase the patient experience including virtual diagnostics. And the latest in gaming, content, AR/VR, smart home, and more will be on display.

To help attendees navigate the show, CES will have to continue shuttle loops between venues, as well as the LVCC Loop that connects the entire LVCC campus.
As part of CTA’s commitment to creating a healthy environment to conduct business, we’ve implemented a more touchless venue experience. Health and safety measures will be taken across all CES 2023 venues and will include increased fresh air flow and filtration systems, hand sanitizing stations, door greeters, and touchless public facilities.

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Consumer Technology Association

Finally, the CES Innovation Awards are back in full swing for next year. Which problems are you hoping the competitors will be focusing on and are there any unicorns/soonicorns we should keep an eye on?

The CES 2023 Innovation Awards program received a record-high number of over 2100 submissions – a testament to the rapid acceleration of innovation over the past year. For the 2023 show, CES has partnered with the World Academy of Art and Science (WAAS) to showcase the critical role of technology in support of the United Nations’ efforts to advance human security around the world.
For CES 2023, CTA introduced a new category of Innovation Awards showcasing technologies advancing human rights. Honorees include the Clean Water Pathfinder by ACWA Robotics, which provides key data to help optimize a city’s water infrastructure investments; the Aurora by Uvera, an AIoT device that increases the shelf-life of fresh foods by 97%; and the first green biomass low carbon solvent PnP water filter that can block out bacteria and microplastics.

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Consumer Technology Association

Excited yet? Join the club smrs.link/CES23

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crowds throng the avenue before the Blue Stage at VivaTech 2025
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At Sesamers, we’re always looking to be the first to learn about the latest trends in the startup and tech events space. That’s why it feels like a privilege that Sesamers was invited by Olivia Hervy, chief ecosystem officer of VivaTech, to the exclusive kick-off VivaTech 2026, alongside key partners.  As Europe’s largest startup and tech event prepares for its 10th anniversary, scheduled for June 17-20, 2026 in Paris, being part of this circle of industry professionals gives us early insight into what promises to be VivaTech’s most ambitious edition yet, with significant expansions and new experiences that reflect a decade of growth and evolution. Major infrastructure expansions After calling Hall 1 and 2 at Porte de Versailles home for a decade, VivaTech 2026 is relocating to Hall 7, a new three-floor building that the event will occupy fully. The venue now features 30% more exhibition space across three floors; upgraded infrastructure; excellent internet connectivity, and a much larger business center. The building has 12 dedicated restaurant areas, providing ample dining options to better accommodate the growing crowds. The centerpiece is a brand new, 2,200-seat main stage where the event’s most significant announcements and keynotes will be held. Greater business focus Building on 2025’s  success (180,000 attendees, 14,000 startups), VivaTech 2026 introduces several business-focused improvements: Doubled innovation showcase The “Garden of Innovators” concept has been expanded upon, with organizers promising to double startup participation, product announcements, and exhibition surface area compared to previous editions.  Located on the first floor, the welcome area will showcase exemplars of innovation through the centuries to remind attendees of humanity’s continuous drive to invent and create. Germany takes center stage For 2026, Germany has been selected as the “Country of the Year,” and VivaTech will highlight the nation’s contributions to the European tech ecosystem with an eye towards strengthening Franco-German technological cooperation. Thematic villages  VivaTech 2026 introduces a new organizational approach: We have four dedicated thematic arenas, each of which features its own startup village and specialized programming: Each thematic village will feature startups building in those sectors, creating focused ecosystems where attendees can explore innovations that cross-pollinate within a concentrated area. Every theme features its own dedicated stage, which will host talks, panels, and presentations tailored to that sector. An additional Executive Arena will cater specifically to marketing and tech leaders, providing a hub for C-level discussions and strategic content. “Revolutions in Progress” VivaTech2026’s theme emphasizes ongoing technological revolutions, with particular focus on: Special anniversary experiences To mark the event’s 10th anniversary, VivaTech 2026 will feature several special events: Looking forward With its tagline, “VIVA LA REVOLUTION,” VivaTech 2026 positions itself not just as a retrospective celebration, but as the launch pad for the next decade of European tech innovation. The expanded format and new experiences point to how the event is evolving from a showcase into an increasingly sophisticated business platform for the global tech community. VivaTech 2026 builds on last year’s impressive satisfaction metrics (92% of exhibitors satisfied, 82% of attendees planning to return) while substantially expanding capacity and capabilities to serve the growing European tech ecosystem.

a wall of amplifiers
Events 1 day ago

Europe recorded €108 billion from exhibitions and events in 2024, according to UFI’s latest data. The continent welcomed 102 million visitors to over 2,000 certified exhibitions across 17 countries; Web Summit Lisbon set a record with 71,528 attendees in November 2024, making it the largest edition to date; and Stockholm’s Techarena secured just over €1 million from VC firm BackingMinds to expand internationally. By any reasonable measure, Europe’s events space has absolutely crushed the events game. End of story. Fin. However, from where I’m sitting, the elephant is still lurking quite comfortably in the room. At the risk of being ostracized, I’ll go ahead and ask the question: Why are some of the most innovative companies on the planet still schlepping to Austin for SXSW to make their biggest announcements (Salt Lick and Stubbs BBQ’s aside)? The room vs. the world Looking at the numbers: Europe’s events spark more meaningful connections per square meter than anywhere else on Earth. In 2025, VivaTech set records with 180,000 visitors, a 10% increase from a year earlier. MWC Barcelona authoritatively anchors a circuit stretching from Kigali to Las Vegas. The continent plays host to an estimated 32,000 exhibitions annually, generating 4.3 million full-time equivalent jobs. These are numbers you cannot take lightly. But walk into any European tech conference and you’ll witness something that should make every one of us reach for the Advil: major announcements received by something akin to a boisterous golf clap from 500 or so people. And that’s it. Those announcements then usually disintegrate into the digital ether, seemingly never to be heard of again. Meanwhile, across the pond, a throwaway tweet about the same topic has the potential to garner upwards of 50,000 shares and three podcast invitations faster than you can drink your morning coffee. But data and numbers don’t lie, and when it comes to events, they’re frankly embarrassing. Europe’s events sector processes roughly €108 billion, and is  extraordinarily efficient in bringing decision makers together in the same space.  European startups consistently struggle with what should be the easier bit: translating those promising conversations into sustained media coverage, investor attention and market validation. The great muppet caper Picture this scene playing out roughly 847 times per week across Europe: Monday: A Finnish startup leveraging AI presents a true breakthrough in supply chain management/optimization/operations to 200 logistics executives at a specialized track. The demo is genuinely impressive. The potential is genuinely massive. The audience is the very definition of target market. All the right pieces are in all the right places. Tuesday: Three tech publications publish brief summaries, perhaps even covering the entire conference, and not just the logistics breakthrough. The fledgling company’s LinkedIn post gets 47 likes (including the founders’ mothers, university mates, and the intern). A single podcast interview is scheduled for three weeks later. It may or may not happen. Wednesday: The story is now less alive than disco was on July 13, 1979. Look that one up, kids. Now let’s compare the same actions to the American playbook, which, if I’m honest, makes me simultaneously impressed and nauseous. The same company makes the announcement at a Bay Area-based event (yep, you know it as well as I do). It generates immediate response across a variety of channels from some  truly influential voices and some noise makers, but enough to garner the attention of major media (print, podcast, and pulp) outlets within 48 hours. It then spawns derivative content, and creates a sustained conversation that drives real, true, business development for the startup for weeks. The difference here isn’t the quality of the innovation; it’s how the messaging was amplified. Folks, you can hate me for saying this, but this is where Europe is getting schooled. There is no stopping in the Red Zone Take one look at today’s media landscape, and you’ll leave with a rather morbid impression. The problem isn’t structural fragmentation; it’s an endemic contraction. Leon may be growing, but European tech media is shrinking,  at precisely the wrong moment. A brief reminder: TechCrunch, long the go-to outlet for European startup coverage, quietly shut down its entire European operation in 2025 when private equity firm Regent LP acquired the publication.  Digital Frontier, the London-based tech publication that launched in early 2024 with a team of 20, “paused” operations just a few months ago, making all 16 staff members redundant.  Business Insider cut 21% of its staff in 2025, citing “extreme traffic drops” and AI disruption. Just days ago, we all found out that The Next Web, once one of Europe’s flagship tech conferences and media brands, was shutting down its events and media operations after nearly 20 years. The Financial Times, which bought TNW in 2019, confirmed it was winding down the business by the end of September following a “strategic review.” Conference attendance had dropped to 4,500 in 2025, less than half of pre-pandemic levels. The failure to capture content The folks at Black Unicorn PR earlier this year put together a guide that reveals something anyone working in European tech media already knows but pretends isn’t true: “Unlike the U.S., which has a few dominant tech media outlets and an emerging class of star indie writers, Europe hasn’t yet consolidated its practitioners’ knowledge in one place.” Stop and think about what that really means for a second. Sure, we’ve got strong regional players, and I salute Sifted, EU-Startups, and Tech.eu doing the do. But the lack of a unified amplification machinery, by definition, puts Europe at a disadvantage over Silicon Valley stories that are destined to be heard in Phuket faster than you can finish reading this sentence. To put it bluntly, European tech events suffer from content capture failure. The most valuable insights surface within conversations, at roundtable discussions, and networking sessions that generate no permanent content.  Unlike American events, which increasingly operate as content factories designed for social media amplification, European conferences optimize to create value in the room rather than post-event content distribution. All that

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Winning the JEC Startup Booster's 2025 Sustainability Award transformed Strong by Form from a 'promising startup' into a serious player with industrial credibility.

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