I’ve been going to CES for 12 years.
My early days were a mess.
I stayed out too late. Drank too much (I’m good at that). I tried to do everything. I didn’t plan properly. I treated CES like a mix of a party, a networking free-for-all, and a test of endurance.
Each year I told myself the same thing: next year I’ll do better.
Eventually, I did, but only after learning the hard way that CES punishes chaos and rewards discipline.
If you’re heading to CES, here’s how to survive it and actually get value out of it.
Lesson 1: Health Is Not Optional at CES
CES is a germ factory.
Tens of thousands of people. Shared demos. Constant handshakes. Crowded rooms. Tight schedules. If you treat your health casually, the show will take you out by day three. There is a reason the “CES Plague” is a known thing.
I learned this after losing half a CES to a cold I absolutely earned.
These days, I carry hand sanitizer and throat lozenges everywhere and use them constantly. It’s basic math. There is a lot of talking and touching.
Sleep is the other big piece. Early on, I treated sleep as expendable. Late dinners, late drinks, early mornings. It felt normal. It was also stupid.
Exhaustion makes you worse in meetings. You listen poorly. You ramble. You miss signals.
I sound like a preacher, but nutrition matters too. CES food can work against you. Heavy meals, sugar spikes, endless coffee. If you don’t manage it intentionally, your energy falls off a cliff. I focus on hydration, lighter meals, and not turning caffeine into a substitute for sleep.
Lots of people talk about the power of shoes at CES. This is not bullshit and is something you probably only screw up once. Bad footwear compounds fast at CES. Foot pain becomes posture pain, which becomes back pain, which becomes mental fatigue. Shoes are equipment at CES.
Lesson 2: Planned Meetings Are the Show
For the first few years, I treated meetings as something that would “just happen.” I assumed I’d bump into people, grab coffees, figure it out on the floor.
That approach is a gamble, and CES is too high stakes for that.
The biggest shift for me was booking meetings well in advance. Serious people fill their calendars weeks before the show. If you wait, you’re left chasing scraps or running between venues hoping someone has 15 minutes.
Pre-booked meetings change the entire experience. They give you momentum.
That said, CES still rewards being open to random encounters. Some of the best conversations happen unexpectedly, in hallways, elevators, and hotel lobbies. The difference now is I’m sharp enough to capitalize on them because I’m not exhausted and disorganized.
Lesson 3: Meals Are Prime Meeting Time
This one took me years to learn.
Meals are some of the best meeting windows at CES.
Breakfasts, lunches, and dinners create space for longer, more relaxed conversations. People aren’t staring at their phones waiting for the next thing. You get context.
At Proper, we try never to eat alone at CES.
This also solves a time problem. If you’re already going to eat, turning that time into a meeting lets you protect the rest of your schedule. You’re not cramming more into the day; you’re using the day better.
This only works if you plan it. Which leads to the next lesson.
Lesson 4: Geography Will Humble You
Las Vegas looks compact on a map. It isn’t.
The distance between hotels, venues, and showcases is brutal. Add crowds, traffic, and security lines, and suddenly a “quick hop” takes 45 minutes.
Early on, I planned days based on optimism. I’d stack meetings across multiple venues and assume I’d make it work. I didn’t.
Now, I plan days by location. I group meetings geographically and accept tradeoffs. CES is a logistics problem disguised as a trade show. If you ignore that, it will eat your schedule alive.
Lesson 5: Everyone Is Late, Including You
At CES, delays are inevitable.
Meetings run long. Traffic backs up. Security slows things down. Someone gets pulled into another conversation.
If you don’t build slack into your schedule, one late meeting cascades into the rest of your day. Suddenly you’re apologizing, rushing, and not present anywhere.
I now budget extra time between meetings. Fewer meetings, done well, consistently outperform packed calendars that collapse by noon.
Lesson 6: Restaurants Are a Scarce Resource
Early on, I treated dinners casually. We’d “figure it out when we got there.”
That doesn’t work at CES.
Vegas fills up completely during the show. Every decent restaurant is booked solid. Wandering around hungry, tired, and stressed at 8:30 p.m. is not a good way to end a long day.
Now, booking restaurants is part of CES prep. Dinners are planned in advance and used intentionally, for team alignment, client conversations, and partner discussions.
Good dinners at CES don’t happen by accident. They happen because someone thought ahead.
Lesson 7: CES Is the First Move of the Year, Not the Finish Line
This was the biggest mindset shift for me.
For a long time, I treated CES as a standalone event. That leaves an enormous amount of value on the table.
CES is the kickoff to the year for consumer tech. It’s where relationships start, narratives are introduced, and momentum is created (our smartest clients know this well). What matters is what you do after Vegas: how you follow up, how you build on conversations, and how you turn introductions into ongoing relationships.
When you view CES as the first chapter of a year-long PR, marketing, and network-building play, your behavior at the show changes. You’re less frantic. More intentional. Focused on planting seeds instead of grabbing everything at once.
Final Thought
CES is not about doing more. It’s about doing the right things well enough to sustain them.
After 12 years, I’ve learned that survival enables performance. Discipline is leverage. And the show always wins if you underestimate it.
That lesson took me a while to learn. Hopefully, it doesn’t take you 12 years.
If you want to chat about the show, PR for the show, or what happens after it, get in touch here.