Victim of its own embedded success
16 March 2010
Two weeks ago Embedded World closed its doors after another successful event – the question is, will that success be counter productive?
The point I am about to make is sufficiently British for me to apologise for it in advance, but it is a point I make because a number of people have raised it with me.
The issue is that the Embedded World exhibition and conference, held two weeks ago in Nuremberg, has once again proved a very successful event. Despite, I imagine, exhibitors mostly having to pay for the show out of 2009 budgets, they rose in number by 4% to 730. Visitor numbers grew by 16% to 18,350. Richard Krowoza, a member of the Management Board of NürnbergMesse, said after the show: “Exhibitions like Embedded World that are focused clearly on one theme are successful. This makes them really stand out from other events with a less well-defined profile. The embedded community meets and works here.”
The numbers above demonstrate the growing popularity of the event and I believe it makes it the biggest annual electronics event in Europe, only Electronica every second year surpassing it in terms of vital statistics. Embedded World’s strength is its tight focus, but this is the very aspect it has to retain if it is to maintain its success. Exhibitors and visitors alike attend the show because it is about ‘embedded’, but if it was to lose that unique profile what would happen? Would it become just another electronics show?
This is where I take the ‘British’ approach – if it is good then find something wrong with it. There is nothing wrong with Embedded World at all. However, there are those who have hinted to me that it is getting a bit big, sprawling almost, in both content and size. Exhibiting companies have witnessed it as a good show for the embedded market and so have started bringing along the rest of their product portfolio, whether related or not. Others stretch the definitions of embedded to encompass whatever is in their product range and, quite reasonably, no exhibition organiser is going to turn exhibitors away on a point of definitions.
But I think the concerns about Embedded World running ‘out of control’ are unnecessary. It is clearly doing a good job at the moment, everyone I have spoken to since concedes (reluctantly because they are British!) that it was a good event and as a business indicator it was promising for 2010 and beyond. If it does get too large, or loses its focus, then some people will stop going, exhibitors will stop exhibiting until it re-establishes the right blend for all concerned. It is a bit like the constant fluctuations in fox and rabbit populations, both sides working towards a natural balance. What I think Embedded World has done is establish itself a reputation as a ‘must attend’ event for embedded engineers, and that sort of reputation provides a great foundation for the coming years and is more significant than the exhibitors who are losing their focus!
Skills foundation
My comment last week (Steps in the right direction for UK’s skill set) about the launch of a new skills foundation prompted the following response from consultant Malcolm McLaren-Clark, who is familiar with the problems of skills shortages. He writes: “This is an all too familiar story, which has been ongoing for several decades now, so it’s good to hear about the formation of this new Foundation. I wish the instigators success, but it won’t be an easy task.
“I speak from past experience, having been instrumental, with a university professor (the late John Eggleston, University of Warwick) and the CEO of an electronics firm (Christopher Sawyer, Deltron Electronics, now part of Abacus) in setting up the Young Electronic Designer Awards (YEDA) in the early 80s to tackle this very problem. Governed by a Board of Trustees, I ran the scheme for the next twenty years, during which time it attracted the support of industry, Government and professional institutions, and we were successful in introducing many talented individuals into the industry. However, the provision of funding was a constant battle and, in 2004, YEDA was subsequently merged with the Young Engineer for Britain scheme, which still sets out to encourage school students to engage in engineering activities, with electronics being a part. As suggested in your editorial, one thing is for sure, without enough innovative new electronics engineers and entrepreneurs, UK plc will slip further and further in the international rankings.”
Comments are always welcome on this or any other subject, just contact me at the usual email address; tim.fryer@imlgroup.co.uk.
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