With all the brilliance in this industry, it baffles me how the most common sense solutions are so frequently overlooked, especially when it comes to tradeshows like DAC!
My friends, I must ask, why is it that people try to kill the tradeshows that are the life and blood of their industry…it makes no sense! This is tantamount to stealing from the hand that feeds you, which brings me back to my opening tagline… "Who will supply the DAC STIMULUS PACKAGE"?
The answer is so simple; WE as benefactors of EDA must provide the DAC Stimulus Package…and here is how each of us, both company wide and individually can STIMULATE DAC.
DAC is having its 46th DAC in the great city of San Francisco this July. For the past many months I have read and heard so many questioning, "the importance of DAC". They speculate on who will make the trip and who wont. They say most know their customers anyway, why make the journey. As Richard Nixon would say, "Well, let me say this about that"…(picture me with two hands in the air waving peace signs).
Tradeshows are the cornerstone of any industry and those in the industry must continue to support their conference/tradeshow at all costs. It goes something like, "as it flourishes, so does the industry it supports". And my friends, ATTENDENCE is the first and foremost way to show your allegiance and loyalty to your industry. (Now moving from political quotes to movie quotes), "If you build it, they will come". Well folks, (now to sports metaphors) this ball field has been built, and 45 very significant ball games have been played; so many have and will continue to prosper from it. The arena is built; now the 46th game is on the horizon. All of you need to be there, to watch, to participate in the game.
You see tradeshows like DAC are about more than just the sale at the show. They are about building industry relationships, staying in contact and catching up with old colleagues, and even more important, they are about fortifying and building new relationships. When ideas are shared, new concepts are conceived; new relationships are built, new ideas develop. That my EDA friends is truly what a tradeshow is suppose to achieve, and DAC always does EXACTLY that!
Peggy recently wrote about the great city of San Francisco, home to this years DAC…how much better does it get than that? I mean, come on a trade show in San Francisco, what a great add on to the experience. I know budgets are tight, and tradeshow expenditures are sometimes hard to justify. I know this is not the best of times, but even knowing all that, we still need to support the show that made, and supports our industry. Attendance is the foremost measurement of that support. (And of course how good a time you have at the Denali party).
As for new careers, more career moves have happened as a result of DAC, than in pre season football. Hiring rarely actually takes place at DAC, but research for a career change can begin there. Here is what I suggest.
Study who is doing what, learn. DO not bother inquiring or submitting your resume at DAC, it is virtually the same as applying on line. Remember, these booth people are there for three long days of a show (for some a week of involvement), and that makes everything becomes a blur to those working it. (Aside from the catch-up that awaits them on their return to the office). Take the information you learn and do a little research. Call a friend, or better, call a knowledgeable EDA recruiter, and ask about the company(s). A good recruiter will get your resume to where a website never will, and follow up with those that matter better than you ever can.
As for what I am hearing on the hiring front related to both DAC and EDA? I am getting calls for AE's, especially for DAC. Focused R&D reqs continue to get dispensed, though albeit, not nearly at a clip that would satisfy any of us.
Friends, people will be at DAC despite the sometimes-grim predictions, and hopefully in surprising numbers. Ignore the doomsayers, make yourself count, make your companies name heard; show up at DAC and show your support. As for those doom and gloom columnists, stop boring us by writing about all the folks that wont be coming, and instead give them reasons to make the journey. And once we are all there, we will be glad we did. See you on the floor, on the town; lets have a few drinks together. We deserve it, I mean after all, it has been a pretty tough year.
(Archived Careers Corner Articles are available on the home page, with each month offering different advice and opinions).
