DAC Is Where?

By Mike Gianfagna

DAC season is upon us. I gave up counting the number of DACs I’ve attended a long time ago—when I turned 29 for the third time, I believe. This year, DAC is special in a few important ways. First of all, it’s the 50th DAC. Yes, the show has indeed been around that long. It started as a workshop with a bunch of engineers debating algorithms. For an industry that is arguably still new and evolving, the golden anniversary of the biggest show for that industry is a big deal.

Then there’s the location. I hear a lot of “DAC is where?” comments, mostly from Bay Area folks. OK, Austin isn’t San Francisco or San Diego for that matter. This is the first time DAC is being held there. For me, holding the 50th anniversary of the conference at a brand-new location is just perfect. A new venue, a new “vibe” and a fresh new look at how to celebrate EDA’s achievements seems like the right thing to do. While Austin isn’t the same as San Francisco, it’s been called the live music capital of the world, and that’s not a bad start. I’ve spent a lot of time in Austin over the years, and I am here to tell you the music is great, and so is the food. Add to that the fact that *everything* is walking distance and the city is actually excited about DAC being there and you start to get the picture.

My company (Atrenta) will have two personalities at DAC. First, let’s discuss Atrenta by day. Like all EDA vendors, we’ve got exciting new products and methodologies to talk about. We’ll have all kinds of customer/partner presentations, product demos, cool giveaways and a few other surprises. For us, it’s all about RTL Signoff. We’ll participate in Designer Track papers, a workshop on IP quality and yours truly will get skewered at the John Cooley Troublemaker panel. We’re also proud to be sponsoring the I Love DAC program, which gets everyone free exhibit passes for the fifth year, along with Forte and Jasper. For those interested in learning more about this part of DAC, here is a shameless plug, just follow the link.

Regarding Atrenta by night, we’ve got a lot planned, too. We believe that 50 years of EDA innovation deserves some serious celebration, and we plan to do our part. We’re all over the “Kickin’ it up in Austin!” party at Austin City Limits Live on Monday night. We’ll be co-sponsoring all the musical entertainment for the evening with Mentor Graphics. You can also come by our Mezzanine bar and try a SpyGarita. It’s rumored that you can see the future after two of these drinks. We’re also proud to be a sponsor of a special “party in a party” event being hosted by Jim Hogan and his Heart of Technology organization. The third floor of Austin City Limits Live will be the location for this special event, which will raise funds for a local children’s advocacy group in Austin. Giving back to the city where DAC is being held is a very nice touch indeed. You can get a tattoo at Jim’s party courtesy of Atrenta. We’ll also be sponsoring a very special guest—you’ll need to go to find out who.

We’re also glad to be a sponsor for the Stars of IP Party on Tuesday evening. This is a private, invitation-only event focused on semiconductor IP. It offers a full Texas-style barbeque, live bluegrass music on a rooftop bar and first-class networking opportunities.
This could be the best-attended DAC, ever. Consider there are several thousand engineers working in Austin who have never been to DAC. I know Bay Area folks like a good party, so get your plane ticket to Austin now. You won’t want to miss this one.

—Mike Gianfagna is vice president of corporate marketing at Atrenta.