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114 SMT007 MAGAZINE I FEBRUARY 2021 Not every product could be strictly consid- ered electronics, either. A handful of the show- case companies demonstrated accessory prod- ucts; cell and tablet cases were a common non-electronic product. Attending a real-life Pepcom follows through with the mini-tradeshow vibe, with showcased companies onsite showing off their products. While the virtual event is different than pre- vious Pepcoms, for those of us who've been attending and reporting on virtual events, the visitor experience was exactly what we would have expected. Virtual Pepcom meant logging in to a rather traditional-looking virtual trade- show environment. Once in, I navigated to each of the virtual booths. At a trade show, every exhibitor is of interest to somebody, but not all exhibitors are inter- esting to everybody. Consequently, walking a show employs multiple layers of information gathering, processing and sorting to find the right type of interesting news to cover. Exhibi- tors tend to be grouped by industry; for exam- Feature by Nolan Johnson I-CONNECT007 On Monday, January 11, I attended the launch of the CES 2021. Well, more precisely, I attended the Pepcom program, one of the mul- titude of ways to connect with CES in the vir- tual environment. Pepcom is a regular at CES, functioning a bit like a show within a show. From Pepcom's website, "Pepcom was founded in 1998—by journalists, for journal- ists. Pepcom is the proven leader in media showcases. Our demo events consistently put the world's most influential media in front of the world's most innovative companies—with a healthy dash of good fun as we go." With a mission like theirs, it's no surprise then, that Pepcom is a regular at CES, drawing a mix of stalwart brands as well as up-and-com- ers. is year was no different. Top-tier brands included companies such as: Lenovo, Kyocera, Targus, Shure, Belkin, Moen, D-Link, Kings- ton, Dolby, ViewSonic, and many more. Pepcom: A Show Within a Show