By: Jacob Hall, Abigail Clark

LAS VEGAS, Nev. – The NAB Show is one of the largest broadcast conferences in the world, but for the last two years, all in-person programming was halted due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This year, however, there were a total of 900 exhibitors and over 52,000 registered attendees eager to return to some semblance of normalcy.

Tony Huet, an attendee of the NAB show, said that the feeling was different when he stepped inside the Las Vegas Convention Center.

“When I first got here, I was reminded immediately of how much I enjoy being here,” Huet said. “It’s just not the same if you’re not here looking at everything and meeting people. Just walking around, I ran into some old friends and co-workers and it’s just been great to have that in person again. Plus, seeing the equipment and everything in person helps a lot. It’s just a one-stop-shop for everything there is to know about the business.”

Michelle Martorell, an Enterprise Sales Mgr. for the Northern U.S., Canada and Latin America at Xencelabs, said that being back in person will allow her company to share their new products with more people.

“We launched a new product during COVID so believe me to tell you that we are very happy to be back out in person,” Martorell said. “We did everything online and now having people to try our actual tablets is amazing. So, I am really happy that people can actually try my tablets.” 

Also represented at the NAB Show were over 11,000 international attendees and a total of 155 countries represented.

NAB announced that next year’s show will take place in Las Vegas from April 15 – 19 and will mark the 100th anniversary of the first convention.