From CES to F1 race week, Las Vegas puts media, buyers, and partners in one place. Here is how JNR helps brands turn Vegas moments into relationships.
Over the past several months, I have written a lot on LinkedIn about one subject that keeps pulling me back: the city Jennifer and I call home. Trade shows. CES. Formula 1 race week. Convention season. Showing up in our own community.
Looking at those posts together, I realized they were one long conversation about a single idea. Las Vegas is one of the most concentrated relationship opportunities in the world, and most brands only scratch the surface. Here is the highlight reel, plus how JNR Communications helps brands make the most of it.
The Theme Behind Every Post: The Booth Is Not the Strategy
If there is one line I keep repeating, it is this: the booth is not the strategy. The relationships are.
Every year I watch companies spend serious money on booths, travel, and staff, then stand behind the counter waiting for someone to wander by. Three days later, they fly home with business cards, branded pens, and no plan for what happens next.
That is not a strategy. That is an expensive way to be forgotten.
When I lived in Japan as a researcher at Nagoya University, I learned the word nemawashi. It means preparing a tree's roots before you transplant it. In business, it means building trust before the big meeting. Trade shows work the same way: the real work happens weeks before the doors open.
Trade Show Support, Before, During and After
Las Vegas hosts some of the biggest trade shows on the planet at the Las Vegas Convention Center, Mandalay Bay, the Venetian Expo, and Wynn. Here is how we help clients treat a show as a campaign rather than a booth.
Before the show. The journalists covering major shows fill their calendars weeks in advance, mostly with people they already know. That is where Jennifer's nearly 30 years of media relationships make a real difference. We start outreach about eight weeks out, schedule media meetings before our clients land, develop press kits, build pre-show buzz, and look for the speaking slots and award programs most exhibitors never pursue.
During the show. We handle media escort, keep spokespeople on message and on time, and capture content that goes live while the show is still buzzing. I also do what I enjoy most: making introductions that turn a busy week into lasting relationships.
After the show. The biggest mistake I see is treating the last day as the finish line. It is actually the starting line. We help clients follow up within 48 hours, while conversations are still warm, with personal notes that reference the actual conversation.
CES: Thousands of Storytellers in One City
CES deserves its own section because the numbers are hard to believe. According to the Consumer Technology Association's audit, CES 2026 drew 148,392 participants, more than 4,100 exhibitors, and attendees from 141 countries, regions, and territories. It also brought in 7,037 media professionals, content creators, and analysts.
More than seven thousand people whose job is finding stories, all in my hometown, all in the same four days.
CES 2027 runs January 6 to 9. Medical aesthetics and device companies, beauty tech, wellness and sleep tech, healthcare technology, and startups ready to meet press and investors all belong in that conversation.
If you are exhibiting, we build your media plan early, book interviews before you arrive, and support you on site.
If you are not exhibiting, you can still win CES week. We help brands offer expert commentary on beauty and wellness tech trends, join the show conversation online with real insight, and set up quiet coffees or dinners with the buyers, distributors, and partners who are flying in anyway. Some of the best relationships I have built started exactly that way, away from the crowds.
F1 Race Week: Three Nights of Racing, a Full Week of Opportunity
The Las Vegas Grand Prix runs November 19 to 21 this year, and Formula 1 has extended its agreement to race on the Strip through 2037. This is no longer a novelty. It is a permanent part of the business calendar here. The 2024 race drew a three-day crowd of 306,000 and an estimated $934 million in economic impact.
Here is what I tell every client: the race is three nights. The opportunity is the whole week.
The city fills with concerts, chef dinners, brand lounges, and private suites full of executives, collectors, investors, and founders. In healthcare technology, we could spend months chasing fifteen minutes with a decision maker. During race week, many of them are within a few square miles, relaxed and open to conversation.
My favorite example is LOUIS XIII Cognac. In 2023, the brand chose Wynn Las Vegas during race week for its first pop-up retail experience in the United States. Then it came back, and came back again, with private appointments and intimate tastings. Jennifer covered it for LUXE Lifestyle & Travel, and that story keeps working long after the checkered flag. The lesson is simple: do not just show up. Host something people remember.
One honest warning I always include: plan early and budget high. Luxury Strip hotels averaged around $950 a night on race weekend in the first year, with resort fees and taxes adding another 15 to 20 percent. Venues, suites, and dinner reservations disappear fast. We help clients lock in logistics, build the right guest list, and give media a real reason to attend.
Convention Season Never Really Stops
Las Vegas does not have an off season. Just in the next few months:
- AWS re:Invent: November 30 to December 4
- CES: January 6 to 9
- Design & Construction Week: February 2 to 4
- MAGIC: February 16 to 18
- Vision Expo: March 10 to 13
Add Cosmoprof North America and the medical and aesthetics meetings that come through town, and there is almost always a room full of the right people here. We help brands plan around the calendar instead of reacting to it.
The Local Advantage Most Brands Overlook
Here is something many brands never consider. We are not flying in for your show. We live here.
We know the venues, the walking routes, the race week road closures, and how long it really takes to get anywhere after a big event. We have relationships with local media and vendors. When something needs handling fast during show week, being on the ground is a real advantage.
Living here also shaped how I network. When I first arrived, I went to eleven events in three weeks and came home with a deck of business cards and not one follow-up call. So I cut it to three rooms and kept going back. The first visit you are a visitor. By the fifth, you are part of the room.
The same goes for local visibility. A community sponsorship only works when someone from your company shows up and personally thanks the most connected people there. Advertising rents attention. Showing up earns it.
Givers Gain, Even in the Busiest City on Earth
The best networkers I know walk into every Las Vegas event asking: how can I help? Introduce a reporter to a source. Connect two founders who should know each other.
Givers Gain is a sequencing instruction. Value first, relationship second, business after that. In a city full of pitches, giving first builds relationships that outlast the booths and the race cars.
Your Las Vegas Checklist
- Pick your moments. Choose the events that matter most to your buyers, partners, and media targets.
- Start eight weeks out. Media calendars fill early, especially for CES and race week.
- Name ten people you want to meet. Everything else serves those relationships.
- Give media a reason to come. An exclusive or a memorable experience beats a generic invitation.
- Follow up within 48 hours. Reference the real conversation, not a template.
Let's Make Las Vegas Work for You
Whether you are exhibiting at a trade show, heading to CES, hosting guests during race week, or building your presence in our local community, the formula is the same. Relationships first. Preparation before the moment. Follow-through after it.
Your network determines your results in PR. JNR Communications combines Jennifer's nearly 30 years of media relationships with strategic networking expertise to help beauty, wellness, medical aesthetics, lifestyle & CPG brands make the most of every Las Vegas moment. Let's build your relationship infrastructure together.
✉️ Greg@JNRcommunications.com | 🌐 JNRcommunications.com
