Anyone Here go to Trade Shows?

TurnipTruck

Greetings,

Does anyone here do any of the audio-visual trade shows?

I'll be going to InfoComm in June. Always looking for a party.......

yuri

i'll be attending ISE2007, and i think thats all

patb

I'll be at CES in Jan 2007 - anyone going send me an email.

vincen

Will be probably at ISE end of january and that's all

Vince

DHawthorne

If I can justify my being there, I go, but most of them are geared towards sales, and I am emphatically not a salesman. If there is a good chance of evaluating a product with the thought of determining it's usefulness to the company, then I might consider it. But more often than not, they are pre-release hype fests, and I just don't have time for that.

TurnipTruck

DHawthorne wrote:

If I can justify my being there, I go, but most of them are geared towards sales, and I am emphatically not a salesman. If there is a good chance of evaluating a product with the thought of determining it's usefulness to the company, then I might consider it. But more often than not, they are pre-release hype fests, and I just don't have time for that.

Understood. That was generally my thought of shows early on. However, I've since learned that they are what you make of them. Even as an engineer, programmer, or other behind-the-scenes person, spending time with people from product manufacturers helps to keep your relation ships with the companies sure.

Spire_Jeff

The only tradeshow I have experience with is CEDIA. I don't use the "training" classes offered because they are either too rushed or general to be of much use to me, but I do enjoy the chance to check out the other products being offered in the industry. I don't do sales to outside clients, but I do have to sell new products to our sales force and the owner. I use the exposure to other products to give me ideas of how I can upgrade our offerings via code changes, requests for new features from current manufacturers and occasionally adding a new product to our line. But by far, the biggest advantage I see to CEDIA is the access to the people I need to talk with. There is something special about being able to communicate face to face with the lead engineer for a company to really hash out a recurring problem or explain a difficulty you experience with their product. It let's you explain your point of view without getting into misinterpretted emails and the realtime interaction allows both parties to reach solutions, or at least understanding of the issue, quickly. The access doesn't stop at the engineer either. Sometimes the engineer is aware of the issue and drags you over to the president or their boss so that the problem becomes more than engineering speculation. It's amazing how much more concerned a president/owner/manager becomes when the problem is realized by a customer.

Lastly, it gives me a good feeling when I talk with the individuals at the various companies and I truely feel their passion for the products they are developing.

Jeff