Embedded Systems Conference priced out of reach?

Joerg wrote:

>> The conference is mainly the place to have 
>> fun (if it is billed to the account of employer), however paying your 
>> own money is a different story.
>>
> 
> Yeah, but the food at Teske's Germania in San Jose is so good. It's a 
> nice stroll across St.James Park. Now don't do that if you have to 
> undergo any cholesterol testing in the weeks after the ESC.

Get up early, disgustfull security check, procrustean seat, between the 
giggling monkey and the snoring pig, delayed flight, airport junk food, 
lost luggage, staying in a line here, staying in a line there, hangover 
all the way, looking for a woman, oh hi I have never met any russians 
before, what brought you to US, stupid feeling after locking your key in 
the hotel room, don't forget to retun the rental car with full tank, 
here are the charges for the things you didn't order...

Vladimir Vassilevsky

DSP and Mixed Signal Design Consultant

http://www.abvolt.com

In article <45D076A1.DBFB3A32@bytecraft.com>, walter@bytecraft.com 
says...
> 
> 
> Jim Granville wrote:
> 
> > The ones who should be most concerned, are the exhibitors. If the
> > number, and quality, of attendees continues to decline, they will
> > decide not to bother.
> 
> We exhibitted at ESC for years and stopped when the industry was
> no longer being represented. Intel dropped out, Motorola / Freescale
> dropped out after being a major promotter of ESC. Finally the major
> technical people from most companies stopped attending.

Perhaps it's just coincidence...At the last ESC for which I paid the
full fees (about 10 to 15 years ago)  I got a free computer carrying
bag from Motorola.   I went to exhibits only a few years later and
there were no goodies from Motorola and I don't remember seeing
a booth either.   IIRC the only big booths left were the RTOS people
and Metrowerks.   I did score a Codewarrior T-Shirt, though.   ;-)
> 
> From an exhibitor point of view ESC was a place to set up deals with
> customers and partners. That no longer happens. The last ESC I
> was at was poorly attended with limited embedded industry coverage.

I don't see much press coverage other than in Embedded Systems magazine.
Certainly nothing like the coverage for  CES or Macworld.
> 
> Most of the shows we attend/exhibit now are application specific.
> 

Mark Borgerson

Vladimir Vassilevsky wrote:

> 
> 
> Joerg wrote:
> 
>>> The conference is mainly the place to have fun (if it is billed to 
>>> the account of employer), however paying your own money is a 
>>> different story.
>>>
>>
>> Yeah, but the food at Teske's Germania in San Jose is so good. It's a 
>> nice stroll across St.James Park. Now don't do that if you have to 
>> undergo any cholesterol testing in the weeks after the ESC.
> 
> 
> Get up early, disgustfull security check, procrustean seat, between the 
> giggling monkey and the snoring pig, delayed flight, airport junk food, 
> lost luggage, staying in a line here, staying in a line there, hangover 
> all the way, looking for a woman, oh hi I have never met any russians 
> before, what brought you to US, stupid feeling after locking your key in 
> the hotel room, don't forget to retun the rental car with full tank, 
> here are the charges for the things you didn't order...
> 

:-)))


Well, I have a slight advantage here. I can drive to San Jose if I 
wanted to. Ok, it'll take anywhere between two and five hours. But I 
could, if I wanted to. Not that I want to. But I could...

-- 
Regards, Joerg

http://www.analogconsultants.com

Walter Banks wrote:

> 
> Jim Granville wrote:
> 
> 
>>The ones who should be most concerned, are the exhibitors. If the
>>number, and quality, of attendees continues to decline, they will
>>decide not to bother.
> 
> 
> We exhibitted at ESC for years and stopped when the industry was
> no longer being represented. Intel dropped out, Motorola / Freescale
> dropped out after being a major promotter of ESC. Finally the major
> technical people from most companies stopped attending.
> 
> From an exhibitor point of view ESC was a place to set up deals with
> customers and partners. That no longer happens. The last ESC I
> was at was poorly attended with limited embedded industry coverage.
> 
> Most of the shows we attend/exhibit now are application specific.
> 

Looks like it. Years ago I lined up a deal with QNX there. Now they 
aren't even on the exhibitor list anymore AFAICT:
http://fp21.a2zinc.net/clients/fpcmp/esc07/public/fphtml.aspx

TI has a 3rd party pavillon there, whatever that means. Anyhow, after 
viewing the exhibitor list I think I am not going to attend.

-- 
Regards, Joerg

http://www.analogconsultants.com

Joerg wrote:

> Walter Banks wrote:
> 
>>
>> Jim Granville wrote:
>>
>>
>>> The ones who should be most concerned, are the exhibitors. If the
>>> number, and quality, of attendees continues to decline, they will
>>> decide not to bother.
>>
>>
>>
>> We exhibitted at ESC for years and stopped when the industry was
>> no longer being represented. Intel dropped out, Motorola / Freescale
>> dropped out after being a major promotter of ESC. Finally the major
>> technical people from most companies stopped attending.
>>
>> From an exhibitor point of view ESC was a place to set up deals with
>> customers and partners. That no longer happens. The last ESC I
>> was at was poorly attended with limited embedded industry coverage.
>>
>> Most of the shows we attend/exhibit now are application specific.
>>
> 
> Looks like it. Years ago I lined up a deal with QNX there. Now they 
> aren't even on the exhibitor list anymore AFAICT:
> http://fp21.a2zinc.net/clients/fpcmp/esc07/public/fphtml.aspx
> 
> TI has a 3rd party pavillon there, whatever that means. Anyhow, after 
> viewing the exhibitor list I think I am not going to attend.
> 
If you change your mind look me up.  I'll buy you a beer.

-- 

Tim Wescott
Wescott Design Services
http://www.wescottdesign.com

Posting from Google?  See http://cfaj.freeshell.org/google/

"Applied Control Theory for Embedded Systems" came out in April.
See details at http://www.wescottdesign.com/actfes/actfes.html

Tim Wescott wrote:

> Joerg wrote:
> 
>> Walter Banks wrote:
>>
>>>
>>> Jim Granville wrote:
>>>
>>>
>>>> The ones who should be most concerned, are the exhibitors. If the
>>>> number, and quality, of attendees continues to decline, they will
>>>> decide not to bother.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> We exhibitted at ESC for years and stopped when the industry was
>>> no longer being represented. Intel dropped out, Motorola / Freescale
>>> dropped out after being a major promotter of ESC. Finally the major
>>> technical people from most companies stopped attending.
>>>
>>> From an exhibitor point of view ESC was a place to set up deals with
>>> customers and partners. That no longer happens. The last ESC I
>>> was at was poorly attended with limited embedded industry coverage.
>>>
>>> Most of the shows we attend/exhibit now are application specific.
>>>
>>
>> Looks like it. Years ago I lined up a deal with QNX there. Now they 
>> aren't even on the exhibitor list anymore AFAICT:
>> http://fp21.a2zinc.net/clients/fpcmp/esc07/public/fphtml.aspx
>>
>> TI has a 3rd party pavillon there, whatever that means. Anyhow, after 
>> viewing the exhibitor list I think I am not going to attend.
>>
> If you change your mind look me up.  I'll buy you a beer.
> 

A beer would really hit the spot. Maybe Teske's has Hefeweizen on tap. 
I'll buy the next one then ;-)

But seriously, around $2K for full access is a bit steep. IMHO this has 
gotten a bit out of hand.

-- 
Regards, Joerg

http://www.analogconsultants.com

Joerg wrote:
> Tim Wescott wrote:
> 
>> Joerg wrote:
>>
>>> Walter Banks wrote:
>>>
>>>>
>>>> Jim Granville wrote:
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>> The ones who should be most concerned, are the exhibitors. If the
>>>>> number, and quality, of attendees continues to decline, they will
>>>>> decide not to bother.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> We exhibitted at ESC for years and stopped when the industry was
>>>> no longer being represented. Intel dropped out, Motorola / Freescale
>>>> dropped out after being a major promotter of ESC. Finally the major
>>>> technical people from most companies stopped attending.
>>>>
>>>> From an exhibitor point of view ESC was a place to set up deals with
>>>> customers and partners. That no longer happens. The last ESC I
>>>> was at was poorly attended with limited embedded industry coverage.
>>>>
>>>> Most of the shows we attend/exhibit now are application specific.
>>>>
>>>
>>> Looks like it. Years ago I lined up a deal with QNX there. Now they 
>>> aren't even on the exhibitor list anymore AFAICT:
>>> http://fp21.a2zinc.net/clients/fpcmp/esc07/public/fphtml.aspx
>>>
>>> TI has a 3rd party pavillon there, whatever that means. Anyhow, after 
>>> viewing the exhibitor list I think I am not going to attend.
>>>
>> If you change your mind look me up.  I'll buy you a beer.
>>
> 
> A beer would really hit the spot. Maybe Teske's has Hefeweizen on tap. 
> I'll buy the next one then ;-)
> 
> But seriously, around $2K for full access is a bit steep. IMHO this has 
> gotten a bit out of hand.

Just try to rent a booth....

Paul Carpenter wrote:

> The things we get can be ridiculous
> 
>    "Get small qauantities from DigiKey/RS/Farnell"
>     (parts are too new for any of them to carry or will never
>      be carried by them)
> 
>    "Only in MOQ of full tray/box of hundreds"
>     (distibutor is actually just a freight forwarder)
> 
>    "Samples only sent to same company that must be taking the
>     volume quantities"
>     ('distributor' that would only send mains connector samples
>      to same company GUARANTEEING minimum annual usage of 1000 parts)
> 
>    Distributors/manufacturers that have web sites with NO leadtime
>    or pricing summary, let alone full details.
> 
>    Samples questionaires that require multiple corporate signoffs and
>    a day to fill in.
>

One company that is very good on samples and tech support in general is 
analog devices. No quibble, order online, no hassle and the samples are 
there in a few days at most. AD have had several design in's here 
because the product and business attitude and the quality is always 
first class as well. The amount of goodwill generated is considerable 
and more manufacturers need to wake up to the idea.

Chris

Joerg wrote:
> Vladimir Vassilevsky wrote:
> 
... snip ...
>>
>> Get up early, disgustfull security check, procrustean seat, between
>> the giggling monkey and the snoring pig, delayed flight, airport
>> junk food, lost luggage, staying in a line here, staying in a line
>> there, hangover all the way, looking for a woman, oh hi I have never
>> met any russians before, what brought you to US, stupid feeling
>> after locking your key in the hotel room, don't forget to retun the
>> rental car with full tank, here are the charges for the things you
>> didn't order...
> 
> :-)))
> 
> Well, I have a slight advantage here. I can drive to San Jose if I
> wanted to. Ok, it'll take anywhere between two and five hours. But I
> could, if I wanted to. Not that I want to. But I could...

If Vladimir can influence Putin, Alaska, and Bush & gang to fund a
bridge over the Bering strait, he too can drive to it.  Maybe (I
understand the Siberian highway system is not the best, also the
Alaskan). :-)

-- 
 <http://www.cs.auckland.ac.nz/~pgut001/pubs/vista_cost.txt>
 <http://www.securityfocus.com/columnists/423>
 
 "A man who is right every time is not likely to do very much."
                           -- Francis Crick, co-discover of DNA
 "There is nothing more amazing than stupidity in action."
                                             -- Thomas Matthews

On Monday, in article
     <lK4Ah.12231$z54.10333@newsfe3-gui.ntli.net>
     nospam@devnul.co.uk "ChrisQuayle" wrote:
>Paul Carpenter wrote:
>> The things we get can be ridiculous
>> 
>>    "Get small qauantities from DigiKey/RS/Farnell"
>>     (parts are too new for any of them to carry or will never
>>      be carried by them)
>> 
>>    "Only in MOQ of full tray/box of hundreds"
>>     (distibutor is actually just a freight forwarder)
>> 
>>    "Samples only sent to same company that must be taking the
>>     volume quantities"
>>     ('distributor' that would only send mains connector samples
>>      to same company GUARANTEEING minimum annual usage of 1000 parts)
>> 
>>    Distributors/manufacturers that have web sites with NO leadtime
>>    or pricing summary, let alone full details.
>> 
>>    Samples questionaires that require multiple corporate signoffs and
>>    a day to fill in.
>>
>
>One company that is very good on samples and tech support in general is 
>analog devices. No quibble, order online, no hassle and the samples are 
>there in a few days at most. AD have had several design in's here 
>because the product and business attitude and the quality is always 
>first class as well. The amount of goodwill generated is considerable 
>and more manufacturers need to wake up to the idea.

Small quantities/small orders internationally via Digikey is an
absolute PAIN.

They want all sorts of export regs questions and cannot define enduser,
when one project I am working on the ultimate 'enduser' is the US DoD,
but that is not good enough for them.

Some small quantities is good from the websites then you find that
production quantities are a pain (Maxim, AD.....).

You wonder at times how anybody but the existing large companies
gets from prototype to production quantities.

-- 
Paul Carpenter          | paul@pcserviceselectronics.co.uk
<http://www.pcserviceselectronics.co.uk/>    PC Services
<http://www.gnuh8.org.uk/>              GNU H8 & mailing list info
<http://www.badweb.org.uk/>             For those web sites you hate