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

It’s sometimes easy to focus too much on the latest exciting new chip or hardware announcement and forget that embedded systems typically have more software than hardware engineers. I’m grateful that I’ve get to work with wonderful software clients such as Programming Research, and am always keen to see publishers and event organisers treat software as a priority.

It’s even better when we can say that the Europe leads the way, which is definitely the case for the Embedded Software Engineering Kongress. The organisers of this event, MicroConsult und ELEKTRONIKPRAXIS, confidently tell me that, with over 600 visitors expected for this year’s event, is the leading embedded software event in the world.

If you want to participate in the ESE Kongress, you need to submit an abstract online by 14th May.

As Johann Wiesböck, Editor in Chief and Publisher of ELEKTRONIKPRAXIS tells me, "Software is the future…"

Tags: Call for Papers, Elektronik Praxis, Germany, Shows and Events

Now in its 19th year, IP-SOC has issued a call for papers. The event will be held in the beautiful French Alps on 30th November and 1st December 2010, and if you want to be in Grenoble you’ll have to get your submission in by 15th September 2010.

The conference is organized within 4 tracks that provide a wide range of insights from academic gurus presenting their ideas for the future to companies trying to sell products today. The four tracks are:

• The Panel track addressing hot topics
• Technical papers addressing the issues related to IP-based system design and in the Embedded System arenas
• Visionary scientific seminars
• The exhibitor track, offering sponsored speaking opportunities for companies

For more information, visit the website or contact Napier.

Tags: Call for Papers, France, 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 the Military, Defence and Aerospace Electronics Conference (MAE2010) have issued a call for papers. This year the event will be held on 30th November 2010 at the Royal Berkshire Conference Centre in Reading, UK, and will cover a broad range of topics relating to embedded computing and integrated electronic systems for military, defence and aerospace applications.

Abstracts should be sent to Jayne Foster by email at jfoster@mae-show.com, and must be received by Friday 21st May 2010. More information about the event can be found at: www.mae-show.com.

Tags: Call for Papers, Shows and Events, UK

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