Mastering CES 2025: Insider Tips for Navigating Tech Giants, Startup Marvels & Unforgettable Experiences at Eureka Park and Beyond

CES is a massive showcase of technology that can be intimidating for first-time attendees - luckily I've been going for over a decade! This episode dives into navigating the event with practical tips, insights on the layout, strategies for exploring various halls, and how to discover both big brands and innovative startups.

• Exploring the CES layout and its main areas 
• Importance of the South Hall for innovation and sourcing 
• Highlights from the Central Hall: major exhibitors and tech trends 
• Deep dive into the automotive technology featured in the West Hall 
• Looking for the wireless nerds? Check North Hall!
• Discovering entrepreneurship and startups at Eureka Park 
• Developing a strategic plan for effective exploration of CES 
• Transportation options to minimize stress during the event 
• Dining tips within the convention center 
• Recommendations for revisiting favorite booths on subsequent days 

Did I miss anything? Was there anything that you like to do at CES that I didn't even talk about? Feel free to drop me a line; let's connect!

Transcript

Navigating CES Exhibition Spaces and Highlights

Speaker 1 0:00

Hey , what's up everybody ? It's Drew Lentz , the Wireless Nerd . Today I want to talk about CES . So I've been going to CES for a little bit over a decade now , and it's a show that I go to every January . I enjoy going to understand what's happening in our world of tech , whether it's in my house or in my business , or hanging on a wall in a restaurant , or the way people take orders , or the cars that are driving down the street . Ces has everything involving consumer electronics . It is , after all , the Consumer Electronics Show . So I wanted to talk real quick about what I do there , because if you've never been , it can be kind of daunting , and even if you have been , it's still pretty daunting . There's a lot to see at the show , there's a lot to do there , and I want to walk you through what my methodology is of it , because I've had a couple of people who are new this year or new last year who wanted to understand what I did and how I jam-pack everything into a couple of days . So it's important to understand how the show is laid out . So this year is going to be a little bit different . 2025 is going to be a little bit different than it was the last couple of years . We finally are getting the south halls back .

Speaker 1 1:01

So here's a quick little map of what it looks like , the overall floor plan . So you see , on the left hand side you see the North halls and then you see the central halls there . These are the main areas . And on the right hand side you see South hall , where it says S1 , s2 , s3 , so on and so forth . This is a little bit different , because before what would happen is for the last couple of years these halls have been closed . Now the West Hall isn't even located on this map . So let's go look at a bigger map of what overall CES looks like . This is on the CES website . At cestech you can go and you can see a whole view of everything that they have . And we're going to look at the Las Vegas Convention Center view because that's where the main stuff happens . So you've got a few different areas there . Let's zoom in here real quick . A few different areas . There's our South Hall 1 and 2 , south Hall 3 , central Hall , the meeting rooms and the main lobby area . Then you've got Westgate , which there's some interesting things that happen at Westgate . Is it Westgate where it happens every year ? Yeah , westgate has its own stuff there , and then you have the West Hall . So a couple of things here . Let's start down here . So the South Halls these are the areas that are the innovation areas , where people who want to build and fabricate and create and source materials , these are the halls for that . So you go in there and you find a lot of different countries that come in and represent their different products from a manufacturing and sourcing and facilities side . It was closed the last couple of years , but this year it's back . It's pretty neat to see where everything starts . So if you want to know how to make a case , or if you need a casemate , or if you need a PCB or if you need the basic elements of consumer electronics , that's the spot where you want to go there .

Speaker 1 2:38

The big , flashy hall is the central hall . The central hall is the area where you see all the TVs . You see all the gaming hall . The central hall is the area where you see all the TVs , you see all the gaming , you see the photo equipment , you see the video equipment , you see all of the big stuff that's happening . That's where all the big exhibitors are the huge , huge booths that are millions and millions of dollars from Samsung and Sony and LG . All those guys are in the central hall .

Speaker 1 3:00

Across the grand lobby and the meeting rooms area . You've got on the left-hand side . Over here you've got the West Hall . Now the West Hall is like a car show . It really is . I mean , it's like it is the car show . So you go in there . You see lots of EVs , you see tons of electric vehicles . You see things that help with that whole area . As you can see from the description , it says EVs , ev tool , vertical takeoff and landing . There's a couple of those there . You'll see those Heavy machinery so John Deere has a big presence there . Marine , you see some stuff with boats , self-driving and all of the suppliers in that world . There's lots that happens in that space .

Speaker 1 3:40

The other one that I want to call attention to is the Central Plaza . This is the outdoor stuff . So there's some test driving , test tracks out here . There's some stuff that you can do outside . It's a great place to , as they say , catch a breath of fresh air . The Central Plaza is a really fun area just to go outside for a minute and see some of the self-driving vehicles and some of the autonomy that happens out there .

Speaker 1 3:58

But one of my favorite spots isn't even on the LVCC campus . If I go back and I look at the other campuses that are there , the Venetian has a really cool campus as well and it's got one of my favorite areas and it's called Eureka Park . And Eureka Park is downstairs at the Venetian . If you've been to any of the big , larger tech events that happened , like the AWS reInvent or HP Discover or any of those , this is the downstairs area . That's usually the dining area . This area they convert over and it's called Eureka Park because it's all the people that want to show off something new .

Speaker 1 4:37

Basically , the way I always explain it is Eureka Park is the people who want to be at CES but can't afford the big booth upstairs . So downstairs you have really , really cool stuff happening down there . You've got a lot of really great tech , a lot of innovation that's happening , a lot of new startups and eventually you see some of the stuff that's happening down in Hall G at Eureka Park . You see it make its way up to the next floor or even to the main floor at some point in time or another . Then , above that , on that second floor , for halls A through D , you've got a whole different area . Now these are the bigger pavilions . There's food technology , smart home accessories , digital health , big innovation , the innovation showcases there where you can see all the awards that have been nominated and won for CES . That's there . That area is a very cool area . Don't sleep . Make sure you take that area into account . There's a lot of stuff that happens . So those are the main areas that you have at CES .

Speaker 1 5:36

Now , how do you tackle all of that ? That's kind of the issue , right ? The way that I do it , the way that I do all trade shows , is what I like to do , is I like to be very methodical about the way that I approach it . I read up on what the big trends are , what I'm looking for in a show , what I'm trying to understand . Is there anything that sticks out that I really want to see and get hands-on with this year ? I want to see some of the stuff from Morse Micro . I want to see new adaptations of Wi-Fi 7 . I want to see more people who are using Wi-Fi 7 in their products . I haven't really started what I want to dig into . That's going to be this weekend . Over the weekend , I'm going to start to really get refreshed on what I want to see , and then when I hit the ground on Monday , it'll give me something to look forward to on Tuesday morning .

Speaker 1 6:19

But I like to go through each one of the halls . The car hall is a . I try and get through there pretty quickly . But the problem with the car hall the one where the West Hall at the Las Vegas Convention Center that's also where all the IoT and communication stuff is . So I like to go there because I like to see the IoT stuff , but then I get caught up talking to all the car people and seeing what's going on there , so that can be a little bit tricky . I would definitely recommend making some time to look into what you want to view and understand what's happening there .

Speaker 1 6:55

So it looks like the IoT stuff and all the smart stuff is not there . It's over . I get these . I think I'm getting these confused . It looks like it's over in the North Hall . Yeah , the West Hall is just autos and the North Hall has the AI , the FinTech , the IoT , the smart city stuff . Okay , all right , I was confusing myself . There's a little bridge that goes across right there . So all of that stuff's going to be over here in the North Halls . That's on the other side of the lobby . So this is a whole . There's a whole other area that happens right there . So sorry about that , but that's okay . That's why you listen to the whole thing . You don't just clip some of it out , I guess . But this area is where that IoT stuff is , and then across now this is all the auto stuff . So things have changed over the last couple of years . Now I don't know if this has changed from last year to this year , and maybe it has . I might be confusing myself even more , but as the new West Hall was loaded on and as it was built out , I think some of that has moved over .

Speaker 1 7:47

A cool trick here that if you want to see is if you look at the bottom left-hand corner of the West Hall and you also look at the Central Hall , you'll notice it says Vegas Loop . If you haven't taken the Vegas Loop , that is such a great way to get to and from the event . Now I know at Resorts World there's a stop at Resorts World , so if you're staying at Resorts World you can get in and out of there . You can jump on the loop and go back and forth . Also , if you just want to cab it or jump in an Uber and take it over to Resorts World and then ride the loop . Sometimes that's faster .

Speaker 1 8:17

Traffic gets really really crazy . Ubers get really expensive . It gets really nuts . The monorail is packed . It's always packed . So , getting back and forth to the show , they do have shuttles from the hotels , but I'm not always . I don't always jive with the shuttle schedules and sometimes I like to . You know , sometimes I'm on a phone call or I'm talking to someone , and it's a little bit easier for me to do that in the back of a Tesla than it is in the back of a , you know , a big bus . So make a plan on how you're going to get to and from .

Speaker 1 8:46

So what I do is I like , like , as I mentioned , I like to go and I like to look at what I'm , what I'm looking for , and then I go to the show and I actually walk . I start in the one hundreds and I walk back and forth 100 , 200 , 300 , 400 . And I go back and forth up and down as many of the aisles as I possibly can . I try and walk the entire show floor . I know that that's a big ask , but it's what I like to do and I do that because , ahead of time .

Speaker 1 9:10

I like to think about what the theme is of the event and , as I'm walking back and forth , I like to see how these vendors play into the theme . The way that I'm thinking about CES , what is the big overarching theme ? Is it 5G , is it IoT , is it Wi-Fi ? And how are each one of these vendors addressing that ? But inevitably , what I find out after doing this at all the different halls is there is a different theme . It's whatever the show brings , because the show has its own thing . The show daily , every day . They give you this little piece of paper you can pick up . It's like a little magazine and it talks about all the announcements that were made . And , of course , you can look online and see what's happening . But understanding what the theme of the show evolves into as the show is happening is just as important . And this doesn't just go for CES , right . This is every tech event . So , in my opinion , you start to see the things that stand out , because the people that may go into the show thinking that they're innovators might have more competition than they originally thought and the innovations might not be as big . There might be these tiny little things that make them more innovative than the company right next to them , and those are what I'm looking for . I'd like to see the big theme and see the little things that people are doing that

Optimizing CES Show Floor Experience

Speaker 1 10:20

are different .

Speaker 1 10:20

So the way that I approach this , you know my last year I stayed at the Fountain Blue . It's walking distance to the West Hall , which was really fantastic . I really enjoyed that . I didn't have to drive anywhere , which is great . So walked across , went to the West Hall , worked the West Hall , then worked the North Hall . After I did the North Hall , then it's probably lunchtime by then . If you're walking back and forth , if you're not stopping to take meetings and take notes , you can probably get to those two in a couple of hours and then grab something to eat .

Speaker 1 10:51

The eating situation in the Grand Lobby is a little bit of a pain in the butt , but that's if you're looking for just a sit-down experience . There's lots of room . You can just get in and get out , get into the area , grab a couple slices of pizza , grab a sandwich , whatever it is , pull a drink off the wall , pay . You're on your way . Make your way into the central hall right across from the area where you eat Usually . Lg has that whole area and it's super packed , super , super , super packed .

Speaker 1 11:19

If that's what you're going for is those big things , those big consumer electronic things like LG , and trying to see what they're doing , I would suggest do some research on what they're doing before you walk into their booth , because if you don't have a plan , when you walk into Sony and LG and Samsung , it's Panasonic and then all the other manufacturers , hcl it can be a little overwhelming . You don't really know where to start . So it's difficult to see the innovation that they're bringing unless you know ahead of time what it is . So be careful when going into those , unless you're just looking around . If you're just looking around , have a field day . I mean , if you've got time , knock yourself out . They offer booth tours and I believe you can sign up for those . I think you might have to do it ahead of time , but have a great time .

Speaker 1 12:11

Take lots of pictures you know that you want to share with people . Look at what's going on , be inspired . There's so much creativity and innovation that's happening in there by the big companies that it's great to see it . You get to see these crazy big screen TVs and wonder how in the world you're supposed to supply connectivity to them . The gaming side is really fun . You get to see all the advancements in gaming . You get to see all the AV advancements . You get to see all the av advancements . You get to see all the stuff in speakers . And then you know I bought a whole shower just because I saw the way that , uh , what kohler had they ? Kohler has an incredible display , incredible , incredible presence at at ces and you know be be be inspired by what's there . Like don't take a minute to just to take it all in central hall again is going to be that area where you get to see all the big Fortune 100s , fortune 500s and whatnot , going across the connector and then going into South Hall Again . South Hall is where you're going to see the people that . It's all design and source , and then it's also the accessories . The accessories are going to be all the things that go with cell phones , all the things that go with lights and all that other stuff . So so I work kind of in .

Speaker 1 13:07

I did last year , the last couple of years I started over here in the West Hall make my way to the North Hall , grab some lunch in the lobby , hit the Central Hall . At that time it's usually time for a break . I head out , go home I think that's about dinner time . That's really all I can do and then the South Hall . Go and hit the South Hall if you can , if you're interested in that . If not , you know , it's a very specific in design and source and if that's not really what you're there for , then it might not be good . Day two definitely probably going to want to go back and see some stuff , because after day one you're going to get a feel for what it is and you're going to say , hey , I want to go back and see that again . So sometimes it might be better to break up Central Hall into day two .

Speaker 1 13:47

For me , if I'm working , you know , north to south , but on day two , really where my focus is is going over to the Venetian and over at the Venetian . That's where I really like to hit Eureka Park . I like to go downstairs . I spend a lot of time downstairs at Eureka Park . I really enjoy talking to the people that are there , talking to the people that are driving the innovation . I really , really enjoy Eureka Park . It's the startup side of the stuff .

Speaker 1 14:15

Make some time there and go there first , because when you go up to halls A through D . This is fun because this is the day-to-day in-your-house stuff . This to me , halls A through D at the Venetian are where the rubber meets the road . This is where it's the stuff that's inside your house . It's the things that you use every day . Are there now the big , flashy tvs and stereos on and all that ? Of course you do . You use that , the computers and the photo stuff and all that that's all over in in the central hall . But the stuff in halls a through d is really fun . Um , there's also samples , so they have like smokers and barbecue stuff and the little Bartesian automatic drink maker . You're going to find some neat stuff in halls A through D . That's how I get through CES .

Speaker 1 14:58

Basically , in two days or three days , work the North Hall if you're into cars and stuff , or West Hall . Then move over to North Hall , see the IoT wireless nerds that are hanging out there . Move across into Central , call it a day , hit South and then make your way over to the Venetian . I'm only there for two days this year , so it's going to be a little tight . I fly in Monday . I'm there Tuesday and Wednesday . I've got some meetings set up Wednesday If you want to hang out with me and walk the show floor .

Speaker 1 15:21

Please know that I do walk the show floor . I try and hit every single aisle . I try and put eyes on every single vendor that's there , even if it's just for a split second , because I've found at this show as well as other shows , that even when I'm not expecting to see something crazy like last year , I think one of the coolest things that I saw was in the Central Hall . It wasn't even Central Hall , I think it was in the West Hall , in the automotive side . I think it was in the West Hall , in the automotive side . I was back in the corner , the back right-hand corner , and I saw an AI tire-changing machine that used artificial intelligence and machine learning to understand where issues in tires are taking place , and it was incredible to

CES Experience Overview

Speaker 1 16:05

watch .

Speaker 1 16:05

So pay attention to everything that's there . Take a look . Have a great time . Food make reservations if you're trying to go out to eat . If not , man , there's some great food . All around Las Vegas , a lot of the city is sold out for the show , so make sure you plan accordingly . But other than that , enjoy your time at CES . Have a really good time . Feel free to drop me a line . Whoa , feel free to drop me a line and say hello and see where I'm at . There's going to be a couple of us walking around roaming the area . That's really where I spend my time .

Speaker 1 16:33

Now what I want to ask you , dear listener , is did I miss anything ? Was there anything that you like to do at CES that I didn't even talk about , because it is a huge show and it usually takes three full days to get through ? So if there's something I've totally overlooked , please drop in the comments or send me a message . Otherwise I will see you all at ces . I hope to see you all at ces . It's gonna be a cool year this year . South hall's back and , uh , we'll talk to you soon . Bye .