Over 60 videos of keynotes and presentations from PCIM are now available on the PCIM website. I think this is a great move, and would expect more conferences and events in our industry to make videos of the content available online.

There are, however, two approaches to posting the video: you either see this as a revenue-generating opportunity, or as a way to promote the event. PCIM falls clearly into the first category, charging €295 for access to the material (with a €100 discount for universities).

I’ll be interested to see what happens in the long term: PCIM has a very high standard of presentations, and so you can be sure that you’re not going to pay for a procession of product pitches. So I can definitely see people paying for access, although I’d like to see the organisers experiment with different price points: maybe a nominal charge such as €50 might bring in more revenue? I’ll also be interested to see whether other events offer content free of charge: I’m sure speakers would like access to the largest possible audience, and the astonishing cost of marketing events to visitors, might make video content from previous events one of the most cost-effective ways of filling a conference or exhibition.

Tags: Germany, PCIM, Shows and Events

Despite the challenges of an ominous ash cloud and typically horrible traffic on the M4, the Embedded Masterclass yet again proved that you can organise successful events in the UK. A total of 161 embedded engineers attended the event that showcased products from 36 vendors, and 72 of the visitors were signed up for the technical workshops.

The organisers followed through on their threat to ban PowerPoint, and the resulting ‘White Board’ sessions were a great success. The audience also felt more able to interrupt and challenge the presenter, making the sessions more lively and attracting more engineers than previous years.

One indication of the success of the event is that United Media Resources Ltd (UMR), the organisers of: ‘Military Defence & Aerospace Electronics’ and ‘Advanced Automotive Electronics’, promptly announced that they had taken it over and would be running it in the future. Clearly UMR see an opportunity to grow the show beyond its current level, and I’m looking forward to see how they improve next year’s events.

Tags: Embedded Masterclass, Shows and Events, UK

Another electronica year, and unsurprisingly M&T will again publish the official show daily. Although this isn’t really a surprise, the facts are impressive: four issues, an editorial team of 16, and a total of more than 60,000 copies – this is a huge undertaking! Perhaps the idea of a print publication for a physical trade show is becoming a little antiquated, but with trade show attendance in Germany remaining strong, and half the content of the show daily in English for international visitors, I’d expect the show daily to be an editorial and commercial success again.

Tags: Digital Magazines and Print Publications, electronica, Shows and Events

Despite the threat of disrupted travel from the volcanic ash cloud, the organisers of PCIM have reported strong figures for this year’s show. Visitor numbers were “approx 6300”, up slightly on last year, and the 255 exhibitors was pretty much the same as 2009. Floor space actually increased slightly to 11390 sq m, with the 619 conference delegates also up on last year.

Although I was on a press tour, the members of the Napier team at the event reported a great show with good attendance from editors as well as visitors. Yet again Germany proves that shows remain a powerful marketing vehicle in Central Europe.

Tags: Germany, PCIM, Shows and Events

I’m impressed by the positive approach taken by Italian electronics companies. On the 15th April the first INTERNATIONAL FORTRONIC FORUM, promoted by Assodel (Italian Association of Electronics Suppliers) and IDEA (Federation of electronic distribution associations) was held in Tunis, Tunisia, and I’m hearing some positive feedback, despite the small size of the Tunisian electronics market.

The organisers tell me that there were over 420 attendees, 374 of which were Tunisian company representatives  from EMS organisations, R&D Centres and Local SMEs. The event helped 48 Italian companies promote themselves to these visitors.

The forum will continue to travel around Europe, with stops in the UK, Turkey and Spain in September and October this year.

Tags: Italy, Shows and Events

When the from former Philips Centre for Technical Training stopped running training course, Techwatch, the publishers of Bits&Chips and Mechatronica, saw an opportunity, and now the company is partnering with training companies Sioux and T2Prof to deliver course about system architecture, electronics and optics.

Publishers are looking for new revenue sources, and I think that promoting technical training courses makes a lot of sense. Techwatch is able to reach potential attendees to sell the courses, leaving the trainers to concentrate on what they do best – technical training. Although the withdrawal from the market of the incumbent provider presented a unique opportunity, it will be interesting to see if any other publishers expand their relationships with training companies.

Tags: Netherlands, Shows and Events

The organisers of DATE10 say they are delighted with the results of this year’s event in Dresden. In addition to 1,300 attendees to the conference, a further 625 visitors attended the exhibition only. This represents another show reporting good numbers, and reinforces the fact that Germany remains the show capital of Europe for our industry.

The conference attracted attendees from 39 Countries. Germany accounted for a quarter of the attendees, followed by USA, France and – perhaps surprisingly – China.

DATE 2011 will take place from 14th to 18th March 2011 in Grenoble, Switzerland.

Tags: DATE, Germany, Shows and Events

I’ve commented in the past about the difficulty of running shows in the UK, where enticing visitors to leave their offices to attend an event remains a real challenge. So I was delighted that the optimists at Datateam Business Media have the confidence to launch a new event.

The new event, Sensing Technology 2010, fills a gap in the roster of UK shows, and I’m hopeful that this focused event will be successful. Datateam has a number of titles that reach potential visitors, particularly Instrumentation, although the event is obviously very relevant to our industry and therefore the readers of Electronics.

The show will be held at the NEC, Birmingham, on 28th and 29th September 2010. 

The event will include a variety of exhibitors showcasing the very latest sensor technologies, and informative seminars which will be presented in conjunction the Electronics, Sensors & Photonics KTN in the two Knowledge Transfer Suites.  In addition, a networking lounge will be situated at the centre of the show for use by both exhibitors and visitors and is designed to aid business discussion and interaction.

Tags: Electronics, Shows and Events, UK

The Darnell Group will be running their Digital Power Europe conference at the Holiday Inn Nuremberg City Centre from 6th to 7th April 2010. Darnell has used an advisory committee of some well-respected figures in the power industry, and are also partnering with Bodo’s Power Systems, one of the media sponsors.

Tags: Bodos Power, Germany, Shows and Events

It sounds like the first National Electronics Week South Africa proved to be a very successful event, with 1700 visitors attending over the two days. This is an impressive number, given the size of the industry in South Africa. The organisers also managed to sell out all exhibition space, ensuring that the event was not only successful, but presumably pretty profitable: not a bad achievement for the first year of a show in the current environment!

Tags: National Electronics Week, Shows and Events, South Africa

The general feeling at Embedded World this year was that the show was a genuine success, and this has been confirmed by the official statistics. With 730 exhibitors (up 4% on last year) and 18,350 visitors (up 16%), organisers and exhibitors should be delighted with the event.

This year was the first time that the show included a student day – Thursday, the last day of the event. This also proved to be successful, attracting 700 students to boost last-day numbers, achieving a balance between boosting attendance whilst avoiding swamping the show with students.

Napier also had a great set of editor meetings with our clients at the event, proving that – in Germany at least – shows are still a great way to meet the press as well as to connect with prospective customers.

Tags: Embedded World, Germany, Shows and Events

With Embedded World only a week away, it was great to get some positive news about a couple of events. The Embedded Masterclass has more workshops planned for 2010 than last year, they have moved the southern leg of the event to the new Hilton at Reading because they needed more space, and the organisers tell me they think they may even exceed last year’s record attendee numbers.

Engineers in Scandinavia are looking forward to a new event, S.E.E. (Scandinavian Electronics Event), which will be held in Stockholm from 13th to 15th April 2010. The event is planned to be held every two years, and I’m delighted that there are still event organisers prepared to create new shows.

It looks like the first S.E.E. will be a success as the organisers tell me that around 250 companies will be exhibiting! They also have some great new ideas for the show, including areas where stands are not allowed to have high separating walls, creating a very open environment. They have also chosen to place seminars and special exhibitions and displays right in the middle of the show, on an “activity street” that cuts through the middle of the exhibition. Putting the seminars and activities that draw visitors in the middle of the hall is really important to draw people past the exhibition stands, and can only help increase the meetings on exhibitors’ stands.

Tags: SEE, Shows and Events, Sweden