CES Launches Trailblazer Program for Budding Journalists

The Consumer Technology Association’s annual CES tradeshow attracts an army of journalists who cover the many tech innovations—in areas like virtual reality, 5G connectivity, and robotics—that companies unveil at the event. CTA estimates that around 6,500 members of the media attend each year.

Now a new program will bring a handful of emerging journalists to next year’s event and help them find their way around the massive tradeshow floor.

The CES Tech Media Trailblazers program, announced this week, will award 25 up-and-coming journalists with a free trip to the January conference in Las Vegas, including accommodations. It will give them access to special events, CES executives, and educational opportunities designed to help them navigate the roughly 4,500 exhibitors on the CES floor each year.

“The Trailblazers program allows this new group to join their peers and experience CES by giving them a front-row seat to the most innovative companies in the world,” CTA President and CEO Gary Shapiro said in a news release  (opens in a new tab). “This elite group will discover life-changing tech making the world a better place from all major and emerging industries at CES 2019.”

CTA is calling for nominations for the program—applicants can nominate themselves or a colleague in a media organization. Nominees must have been working at their current media outlet for fewer than three years, must have attended CES fewer than three times, and must cover topics relevant to CES’s audience, such as business and technology. The selected journalists also must meet the association’s requirements for media registration  (opens in a new tab).

Interested journalists must apply  (opens in a new tab) before September 17, after which a panel will select the recipients.

(nøcomputer/Flickr)