(By Buzz Knight) CES is one of the most exciting weeks of the year as so many great brands and great minds converge on Las Vegas. As I’ve tried to do for the last dozen years or so, I want to give some perspective on what’s important and how we in our industry can be inspired from this amazing event. One of the most consistent big takeaways from the CES has been the importance of strategic partnerships. This year is no exception.
We at Beasley Media Group developed a partnership with the University of Nevada at Las Vegas that actually germinated as a result of being at CES a few years ago. Later this week we will be announcing the winners of our Beasley/UNLV Hackathon here at CES, with the focus on media innovation.
More on that after the Thursday announcement, but the idea of partnering with UNLV and tapping the brain power of our next generation fits the entire mood and spirit of CES. Another area of partnership taking shape this year at CES is around the ultimate possibilities of Smart Cities and how the opportunity exists for cities and technology to foster partnerships to build a more resilient ecosystem.
Displaying Internet of Things, 5G connectivity, transportation and smart automotive, energy and utilities, health and public safety, artificial intelligence, and data analytics, you’ll get the idea on how smart cities can be built to meet all challenges of the 21st century.
Partnerships are vital to this success and will be vital to helping to shape our future. Another significant partnership unveiled here at CES 2019 is that between LG Electronics and a company called Drop (their platform is the Drop Kitchen OS Platform) which will create a better integration of kitchen appliances in the future connected home.
According to Dan Song, President of LG Home Appliance, “Through partnerships that tap into today’s more intelligent kitchen appliances, we’re able to deliver the smart kitchen experience that customers have been asking for.”
LG’s agreement with Drop adds to the company’s growing list of smart kitchen partners, which also includes Innit and Side Chef. Another significant partnership on display at CES this year is between Twitter and the NBA.
According to Gary Shapiro, the President and CEO of CTA, “The partnership between Twitter and the NBA illustrates the ever-growing relationship between sports and technology.” As we in the business of audio focus on ways to grow our fan engagement, we can learn from these creative partnerships and expand our pie in the years to come.”
