Napier News » Shows and Events

Video archive of PCIM presentations

Mike — Thu, 17 Jun 2010 09:40:27 +0000

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.

“I liked the Embedded Masterclass so much that I bought it”

Mike — Mon, 17 May 2010 16:13:00 +0000

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.

Markt & Technik to publish electronica show daily

Mike — Fri, 14 May 2010 15:55:00 +0000

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.

Strong results from PCIM

Mike — Mon, 10 May 2010 15:13:41 +0000

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.

Call for papers – ESE Kongress

Mike — Fri, 30 Apr 2010 16:08:54 +0000

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…"

Call for papers – IP-SOC 2010

Mike — Mon, 26 Apr 2010 07:50:30 +0000

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.

Italian electronics industry finds opportunities in Tunisia

Mike — Wed, 21 Apr 2010 11:58:50 +0000

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.

Techwatch promotes Dutch training courses

Mike — Mon, 19 Apr 2010 09:35:11 +0000

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.

Call for papers – MAE2010

Mike — Mon, 19 Apr 2010 09:02:28 +0000

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.

DATE proclaims move to Dresden a success

Mike — Mon, 12 Apr 2010 10:04:13 +0000

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.