Week 33: Changes To The DAC Show Floor

At this point in my blogging/vlogging career I’m assuming I have an audience of thousands who hang on my every word. But the few of you left (okay, so this is tongue in cheek… I have in fact seen the number of YouTube views!) who have not seen my DAC TV interview with Brian Fuller (below) need to know that we are changing DAC exhibit hours and moving the evening receptions on Monday and Tuesday to the show floor. Whether or not you are paying attention, know we are changing the conference in response to feedback to better serve you!

A bit of history to explain why we made the move: The receptions used to be in the esplanade where the conference sessions take place, though this year we’re moving them to the show floor to bring more attendees through the exhibit hall. I first mentioned this change in my week 23 post. Weeks earlier, soon after I started blogging about DAC and inviting you to share your ideas with me, I’d received an email from my dear friend Bill Martin who suggested having the poster sessions at DAC on the show floor, as well. We were immediately intrigued as attendance occasionally waned at these sessions, where great content is presented often by some of EDA’s younger contingent, sometimes including graduate students. We first discussed the idea on the appropriate committees and then surveyed our exhibitors, who gave a very positive response. That was all we needed to decide to go for it and in fact to take Bill’s idea a little further.

This year we expect the show floor to be especially vibrant through the day, but especially in the late afternoons and evening. It will be open until 7 p.m. to accommodate both the poster sessions and receptions. Indeed, we hope the two will mix well. Maybe we’ll bill it “beer and BIST” or perhaps “wine and wafers” (silicon, that is). We will start exhibits at 10 a.m., an hour later than in years past. The change will enable more attendees and vendors to attend the 9 a.m. keynotes, which I promise will be excellent. And don’t worry: vendors that want to have customer meetings in their suites before 10 a.m. can of course do so by providing their customers with a visitors pass for early access to the exhibit hall.

To sum it up:

• The exhibit floor will be open daily from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.
• Receptions are on the show floor and will take place Monday and Tuesday at 6 p.m. and are open to 7 p.m.
• Designer Track and Conference posters will be displayed and presented on the show floor on Tuesday.
• Send me an email and I might ponder more changes to DAC between now and June!

We are still looking for sponsors for the new receptions. In fact there are a variety of sponsorships still available appropriate for nearly every budget. These go a long way to raise your profile at the event. If you are interested please let us know.

Oh, and I would like to thank all the designers out there for giving me an early birthday present. Yesterday we closed the window for the Designer and IP track submissions, which appear to be at an all-time high! This is amazing! And while we are talking about records and high demand – Embedded TechCon asked for additional room for their co-located conference. All this can only translate into a very vibrant event for our industry. Don’t miss your chance to be part of it.