Week 31: The Content Machine Is Well Oiled And Running

We are running on all cylinders working on the DAC conference program. Next week we have a three-hour conference call to review most of our invited content, as well as panels, tutorials, workshops and collocated events. Early February is the Technical Program Committee Meeting in Houston, where we will finalize the technical conference program. All our TPC members right now are reviewing submitted papers.

Did you know that submitted DAC papers go through a blind peer review? There’s no chance of favoritism as reviewers don’t know who submitted the papers until the final accept/reject decision. The acceptance rate at DAC is about 22%, which makes it one of the more prestigious academic conferences in our industry. Being published at DAC is definitely an accomplishment. My week 7 post outlines what makes a good conference paper. (The summary answer: relevance, a solid introduction, good citations, a concise overview of methodology and most important, a robust set of quantifiable data.)

In addition to the work going on in the TPC, we are now receiving Designer and IP track submissions. Both tracks have their own program committees and the submission process is very different from the academic conference. All you have to do is submit an abstract and six slides and you are ready to go. The deadline for the Designer and IP track is Jan. 20. I’m only bringing it up again to mention (yet again) the proximity to my birthday, Jan. 23, and that this year a nice gift would be lots of submissions.

The DAC pavilion is shaping up nicely with several interesting anchor sessions already arranged. In addition to the very popular SKY talks, the CEOs of Cadence, Mentor and Synopsys have each been invited to sit down with us for a fireside chat. Last year’s fireside chat between Jim Buczkowski from Ford Motor Company and Wally Rhines from Mentor was very well received. And as everyone usually wants to hear from the Big 3 CEOs, we thought that a more relaxed setup will enable more informal and possibly revealing conversation, and also make it easier for the audience to throw in a few questions. I’ll keep you posted on our progress. With six SKY talks, three fireside chats, and a morning and an afternoon anchor each day, the pavilion is pretty much set with a lot of compelling content.

By the end of February we should be ready to move into content promotion mode. After doing all this hard work for more than five months we want to make sure that enough attendees show up. And that’s when I need all your help. Get ready to spread the word and help promote our prime industry event.

And on a somber note, I can’t bring up the world of EDA promotion and communication without pointing out the sad news that it’s just lost one of its brightest lights. Anna Del Rosario, corporate communications director at Cadence, died on Monday after a long illness. I don’t know how many designers, researchers and developers out there get exposed much to PR and marketing, but I can assure you these are aspects of our industry to which Anna brought much needed flair and fun. Brian Fuller wrote a beautiful tribute to Anna that you can find here. She will live on in the memories of all those who were lucky enough to have met her.