electronica 2010 – the German trip worth making
05 October 2010
I am not saying that electroncia is the only worthwhile event for electronics designers, but to my mind it is still the best and is certainly the biggest.
In the past, exhibitions were undoubtedly a more important means of communication. Their place in the calendar became important because companies would actually synchronise their marketing plans so that major product announcements could coincide with the biggest national and international exhibitions. Other industries still do this – I believe the Geneva motor show for example has the automotive industry drooling in anticipation of what may be revealed. However, the electronics industry, with one exception, has moved away from this. That one exception is of course electronica, and even then launches at the exhibition would be those that fell conveniently into a company’s development cycle.
This is of course as a consequence of the way we all communicate these days – by email, through web sites and now ‘social networking’ is invading the work environment. Even phone calls are becoming increasingly rare! This desk-bound communication is undoubtedly a good thing in many cases. It is easy, it is quick and it is (debatably) efficient – although its efficiency becomes debatable if it is not being effective.
I think what has happened is that the way we communicate has changed not only because of the new technology at our fingertips, but because the industry itself has matured along with the people who are in it. When the electronics industry was in its infancy it was important for people to meet, to forge relationships, to learn what other people can do and work together. This is why exhibitions have played such a major role in the past – they were industry’s meeting place when industry needed to meet. Now, I suggest, this necessity has gone (or at least diminished) in the western world. We know what people do, where to find these people and what price to expect for their products and services.
Not so in the emerging geographies like China and India. Exhibitions still play a far more important role in the industry than they do in the west because there are still so many new contacts to be made, so much to learn. The electronics industry in many parts of Asia has not settled down into the same comfortable middle-age that it has done in Europe.
The consequence of this is that exhibition organisers are having to try harder to get engineers out of their offices and factories. The educational content of any modern day exhibition is usually considerable so that visitors can learn about technology, industry and legislation as well as spread their knowledge of the supplier base. Most modern day exhibitions, compared to a similar event from 15 or 20 years ago, will be better organised, look more appealing, have far better content, offer the visitor far more – and yet have considerably fewer visitors come through the doors. It is a shame in my book, because any industry revolves around the people in it, and exhibitions are the perfect meeting place for all of the diverse participants.
Going back to where I started this blog, there is one event that has bucked the trend. Possibly it is purely down to good organisation, maybe it was Munich’s vision in building a state-of-the-art facility at the right time, or maybe it is just the momentum gained by its enormity – but electronica is still THE event to be at, whether as exhibitor or visitor. Virtually every major supplier will be in Munich from November 9th–12th 2010, and it is the only large-scale event that attracts visitors from every part of the world. Traditionally the UK contingent is one of the largest, if not the largest, from a non-German speaking country.
Fortunately each of the vast halls has its own theme, so that walking is kept to a minimum and a better focus can be kept on a particular subject. It is worth doing a bit of homework before you go as it is easy to feel overwhelmed by the size of the show, particularly as a first timer. To help readers who are contemplating the trip, or even those who can’t but want to keep abreast of what will be new at this year’s event, we are introducing an electronica theme throughout our newsletters in October. Most of the new products that we deliver to your inbox every Wednesday will be introduced to the market at this year’s event, so hopefully it will give you a few ideas of what is worth seeing if you make the trip.
One word of warning if you are going, get organised now – hotels go and flights get more expensive as the event draws near.
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