I go to trade shows (of any kind) ...
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Huh? (Score:2, Insightful)
What's a trade show?
Re:Huh? (Score:5, Funny)
What's a trade show?
It's theater. There are these plays about merchants exchanging money for goods.
"Merchant of Venice" was one of the most famous ones.
They really get boring during the contract negotiation scenes though.
So that's what Im missing out on (Score:1)
Re:Huh? (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:So that's what Im missing out on ...
Free stuff?! (Score:2)
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but they hand out free crap, some of which is useful. USB sticks, memory sticks, burnable DVD, stationary, pens, calculators, coffee mugs...
Re: (Score:2)
Free Crap ... aka SWAG (Stuff We All Get)
Gonna get some SWAG at the tradeshow! (Dell World, KACE Konference next week)
Re: (Score:2)
Another one is "Spice and Wolf", though I don't remember the contract negotiations being all that boring...
Re:Huh? (Score:5, Informative)
What's a trade show?
A bunch of companies in the same industry getting together at a convention centre to show off their new products to the general public, and to each other. Occasionally, there are lectures. Comicon, Home and Garden Show, Consumer Electronics show, etc, are all trade shows.
Re: (Score:2)
When I went, it used to coincide with Adult-dex.....the adult film industries trade show.
MUCH more interesting....hahahaha.
Re: (Score:1)
What's a trade show?
A bunch of companies in the same industry getting together at a convention centre to show off their new products to the general public, and to each other. Occasionally, there are lectures. Comicon, Home and Garden Show, Consumer Electronics show, etc, are all trade shows.
You forgot the part about there being lots of drinking and other extra-curricular activities.
Re: (Score:2)
No vote cast as usual (rolls eyes in despair at
Re: (Score:3)
What's a trade show?
you go there to collect swag and as an excuse to get tickets to some nice metropolitan city to booze with your friends who also manage to do the same. sometimes it gives a nice glimpse of which companies and types of things people are dumping money into as well. so it's like a holiday that your employer pays.
and very rarely you'll get technical insight and run into tech you wouldn't otherwise bump into that interests you. but that's very rarely.
none of this applies if you're a booth monkey in the booth cage
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What's a trade show?
It's a place where you go and meet peers in the industry and learn about new and emerging technologies. At least, that's what I take away from Cisco Live!. Maybe I'm just doing it wrong...
Most trade shows are a bit of the above, a bit of partying, and a bit of theater. My old manager viewed Cisco Live! as more of a learning opportunity with a little bit of fun thrown in. My new manager views Cisco Live! as nothing but a marketing boondoggle with no redeeming features at all.
My thought is that what you g
Re: (Score:2)
The only relevant shows to my industry are held in other countries, and my boss won't send anyone below executive level. I certainly can't afford the trip + registration fees out of my own pocket.
Only if I'm paid (Score:5, Insightful)
I'm always offered to go, represent the company I'm working at, and do a brief afterwards.... but as I'm a contractor, it's very rare that they'll also offer to pay me for those days.
If I'm not going to get paid to go, then I'm not going. I'll always find out any useful info sooner or later, so it's not like I'm missing out on too much.
Re:Only if I'm paid (Score:5, Insightful)
I'm always offered to go, represent the company I'm working at, and do a brief afterwards.... but as I'm a contractor, it's very rare that they'll also offer to pay me for those days.
If I'm not going to get paid to go, then I'm not going. I'll always find out any useful info sooner or later, so it's not like I'm missing out on too much.
I'm a contractor, and fly myself down to the trade shows representing myself, rather than the company I currently contract to. Gotta rub shoulders with like-minded people, sink a few beers, eat some good food and (most importantly) catch up with what's happening in the field.
Contracting rule #1 - always have a parachute in sight.
Re: (Score:2)
I'm a contractor, and fly myself down to the trade shows representing myself, rather than the company I currently contract to. Gotta rub shoulders with like-minded people, sink a few beers, eat some good food and (most importantly) catch up with what's happening in the field.
Since you're going to the show of your choice, it makes sense. But I think the difference between yours and GP's points is GP is asked to go to trade shows of the employer's choice, not his own. The GP's kind of shows probably cater to the employer's customers, not necessarily the employee's potential contracts/clients. I.e. the company's field, not yours.
Maybe your company sells gas pumps, so you're asked to go to a convenience store show or a retail petroleum show. Perhaps you design embedded software. Th
Re: (Score:1)
>> a convenience store show
Man, people who go to those shows have the *worst* costumes.
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You get the write off only if you itemize deductions. If your other "Schedule A" deductions ( charitable donations, medical expenses etc.) plus the trip expenses is smaller than the standard deduction, it is no use.
Re: (Score:2)
You get the write off only if you itemize deductions. If your other "Schedule A" deductions ( charitable donations, medical expenses etc.) plus the trip expenses is smaller than the standard deduction, it is no use.
If you are successful contractor, in a state that has income tax, you will be itemizing. State income taxes are deductible from Federal income tax. Above a certain income threshold, state income tax will exceed the standard deduction all by itself. In the 90's in California, this was about 60K. I don't know what is today. Since then, my good years have been way over and my bad years have been way under.
Re: (Score:2)
I'm not sure if the term "trade show" is intended to cover them also, but imo professional/practitioner conferences are better than trade shows for that kind of thing. For example, in the game industry, compare something like the Game Developer's Conference (developer-oriented) to E3 (a classic product-focused trade show).
Only if I'm *not* paid (Score:2)
I'm a digital design engineer. When I'm working, there's no time for trade shows.
When I'm not working, I go to any relevant trade show I can get into for free. They are important networking opportunities, they keep me a little more engaged, and they are mildly informative. I have not directly scored a job this way but I have from single vendor events that you generally find out about through trade shows.
missing option (Score:5, Insightful)
Never.
I've been to a couple professional conferences in my career, and the occasional fan convention, but an industry show dedicated to people trying to sell stuff? Nope.
Re: (Score:2)
That would be like:
Rarely - less than once in a lifetime
Re:missing option (Score:4)
The Internet killed the Trade Show Star...
Re: (Score:3)
The Internet will never substitute for getting your hands on a product and trying it out yourself. Some things can be shipped for demos, but for the show I have attended (Winter NAMM), it would be highly impractical and in some cases impossible to distribute demo units to everyone who wants to try them out. It makes a lot more sense to set up once a year and let everyone come together.
The coolest thing I got to try out at Winter NAMM 2010 wasn't even for sale by anyone at the show. One of the exhibitors had
Didn't think things through. (Score:2)
Yet, I just found this out from your firsthand account on an electronic conference...
Re: (Score:2)
For that ONE PRODUCT, perhaps. And that assumes you trust my judgment and that of others. Maybe YOU have a mouthpiece/reed combo that is not subject to this issue. Some other sources say "metal mouthpieces will do this" -- and I note that both the one i brought and the one the owner normally uses are metal. However, I know mine at least is a fairly voluminous mouthpiece on the inside, and it is construction with a small chamber (not material) that makes most metal mouthpieces so bright and cutting. There ar
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If something happens "rarely", it happens.
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relax. It was a joke
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As an example, if something happens once every thirty years, but you have only been alive for twenty-nine years, would you conclude that the even happens rarely or never?
Similarly, if you have never been to a trade show, does that mean you will never be able to go to a trade show?
Re: (Score:2)
A "Hundred year flood"' happens every couple of years these days
(at least in the F-M area)
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Well, starting from the understanding that I can't force anyone to believe anything they don't want to ... No, you'renotrite :)
We get some polls from readers (who are bright enough to re-purpose the submissions form for it -- one day, I hope we'll get a better / more appropriate submission form for polls, but for now that's it, and we always like poll submissions. Submit! Submit!), as well as some reader-submitted poll *ideas* provided without answers, just topics. Others, we (the handful of editors) genera
Re: (Score:2)
Never.
I've been to a couple professional conferences in my career, and the occasional fan convention, but an industry show dedicated to people trying to sell stuff? Nope.
Frequently, but only for trades related with my hobbies, not my career (e.g. get some fancy router bits [wikipedia.org] at discounted prices - it makes sense to get in contact with people that sell stuff).
Who said professional? (Score:2, Interesting)
I go to Model Train shows 2-3 times a year.
Better variety, lower prices, everyone talking trains.
You Guys need to get a hobby.
Says a lot about you (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Or you want to hear from other people about what they're working on. Believe it or not, the more technical "trade shows" are quite useful in that regard.
Re: (Score:3)
Believe it or not, the more technical "trade shows" are quite useful in that regard.
Doesn't even have to be a technical trade show. I attended G2E last year and we found a printing technology we hadn't found online (inexpensive hidden window reveal). I was able to talk to an engineer about interfaces to the printer and how formatting is handled (as well as the other company that makes the paper). I also got to chat with the Unity3D guys (this was prior to a linux release and they confirmed they did have it running on Linux for a particular customer) and talk to some guys about modifying an
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Re: (Score:1)
I am too and I haven't been to any in over 2 years. Last one was some shitty regional vendor expo. My employer has been really tight with travel budget lately while at the same time prodding me to do "professional development" activities. I'd love to finish out my Crestron cert. but that's several days of classes in another city (mostly for stuff I've already figured out on my own in the meantime). Oh well.
Is InfoComm worth it anymore?
I try to go... (Score:2)
Benefits of Trade Shows (Score:4, Insightful)
Re: (Score:2)
My job is about software development, just call me a programmer. Last time I went to a trade show I learned that some 500 new acronyms had been invented. By now they must be out of fashion again because I never hear about them anymore. Sadly, in my area of expertise not a lot of groundbreaking stuff is happening. Sure, there are many who pretend that they have the new golden recipe that makes the new software easy to write, with 0% defects etc. In reality there's always some point where the dirty work has t
Re: (Score:1)
...I'm a bit fed up with these shows promoting extensions to bad management and recycling of meaningless mumbo jumbo.
You mean like ITIL, Six-Sigma, etc... :)
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:3)
The two times I've been to trade shows, I ended up hooking up with booth girls. So, I agree, there are indeed two benefits in going to trade shows.
Re: (Score:1)
NEVER! (Score:5, Insightful)
Why would anyone go to a trade show?* It's me, going out of my way to be advertised to. I can think of few things less enjoyable.
Conferences on the other hand, I love. A chance to talk with the people who actually made the stuff the trade shows are advertising â" That's incredibly valuable and well worth the time and effort.
*The most common excuse I see is that it's a free trip to Las Vegas or somewhere, which is why they hold them there and not Des Moines. But if that's the cost of a trip, I'm not sure it's worth it. (Then again I live in my favorite city. Traveling out of it is a step down.)
Farmer's Market (Score:1)
Frequently, counting the local farmer's market: dozens of times per year. Most Saturdays except during winter and early spring. Otherwise, rarely.
Re: (Score:1)
farmers market is not a trade show.
its a market that you buy goods from, not a show to see the most recent advances in agricultural technology / methods. You buy tomatoes, not see the latest bug resistant breed of tomato plants and the latest gadget to get the most out of your harvest without bruising while increasing productivity by 1.72%
Scientific conferences (Score:2)
I generally attend a couple of conferences a year, and try to present some of my work at least at one event (I'm out of academia so publishing is not a priority).
It's a great way of keeping in touch with the latest bits of research, but mostly it's about the networking.
And the fact that some conferences are organized in beautiful places does not hurt!
Concentrated headache (Score:2)
They are noisy, crowded, expensive, and all you end up with is a bag of bullshit brochures and cards.
Re: (Score:2)
You're going to the wrong ones.
Re: (Score:2)
You're going to the wrong ones.
If it's for your job, you probably don't get to choose.
Re: (Score:1)
...and a cold.
Neverbeen (Score:3)
Think of car trade shows - a manufacturer shows up and says "here is a half working prototype of what we could make if we put our minds to it, a beautifully shaped fully transparent hydrogen gas powered plug-in hybrid with a 9-speed manual gearbox. but nahhhhhhh, it will never see production, you can buy this heap of shit instead (sales rep points to said heap of shit)"
missing option (Score:1)
When I'm running low on pens and notepads.
I Used to Do COMDEX Regularly (Score:2)
Missing option: Years and years ago (Score:4, Interesting)
Between '89 to '95, I went to multi-dozen trade shows. Four a year sometimes. COMDEX, CES, E3.
I stood around in my cheap suit, in horrible dress shoes, and show off CD-ROM multimedia software.
It got a little better after other, larger companies started putting show personnel in casual-dress uniforms. Golf shirts with logos, khakis, black sneakers, that kind of thing.
What made it all incredibly frustrating is that, while I was working in "high tech" (I mean, gosh, multimedia CD-ROM), it was all about selling and sales and making deals. There was no real interest in the technology, and what it could do, and how it worked.
I eventually got my ass in gear and went to grad school so I could actually work on a development team. While I miss the travel sometimes, I'm so glad to be through with trade shows.
Re: (Score:1)
... it was all about selling and sales and making deals. There was no real interest in the technology, and what it could do, and how it worked...
Did you work for Oracle???
Re:Missing option: Years and years ago (Score:4, Funny)
Did you work for Oracle???
CD-ROMs? He obviously worked for AOL.
The last time I went to one ... (Score:2)
... was during my dotcom days for Internet World in Los Angeles/L.A. I also just found out that I could go to E3 with my work proof even though it is not work related. DOH! Too bad I am not into gaming anymore. :(
Trade Shows != for the trade (Score:1)
OTC (Score:2)
OTC (Offshore Tech Conference - oil industry Christmas) once a year satisfies my trade show itch. It's got everything you could want - competitors screaming across their booths at one another while you /popcorn, the Chinese and the Dutch nearly going to war with one another over whose booth space is where, free swag out the wazoo. Also, enough booth babes that every strip club, brothel, and Hooters in the greater Houston area has to shut down for the duration for lack of employees (and few people get more
Re: (Score:2)
OTC (Offshore Tech Conference - oil industry Christmas) once a year satisfies my trade show itch. It's got everything you could want - competitors screaming across their booths at one another while you /popcorn, the Chinese and the Dutch nearly going to war with one another over whose booth space is where, free swag out the wazoo. Also, enough booth babes that every strip club, brothel, and Hooters in the greater Houston area has to shut down for the duration for lack of employees (and few people get more desperate than girls who know nothing about engineering trying to sell complex equipment to people who don't speak English. Got three numbers last year).
Have not been to E3, CES, etc. I can only hope they're as fun.
Oh man I loved OTC. I only went one time when I worked for the American Bureau of Shipping but boy we had a good time. It was surprising to me that alcohol was so hard to find, but eventually we found some Russian pipe pig company that had a cooler of beer. Even if you aren't in the oil and gas industry, every engineer should go to this conference if you are in Houston or nearby.
I go to PAX every year... (Score:3)
How about never (Score:1)
With the economy the way it is. (Score:1)
Whenever currency is no longer getting it done.
not within practical distance. (Score:1)
so between 3 days to a week away from the desk, airfares, hotels bills, and entrance fees once every two years is about all I can manage
Is GenCon a trade show? (Score:3)
Re: (Score:2)
And see new games of course. I spent a good $1,000 on new gear that I carried home on my motorcycle :) Certainly I could have simply purchased them later from my FLGS except that they don't carry the Judge Dredd books from Mongoose (for example).
On a good side, a new FLGS has opened within a 15 minute walk and they're stocking the games I'm interested in.
[John]
CeBIT (Score:3)
Frequent vs Regular (Score:1)
Price (Score:2)
I would go to more if the prices were more reasonable and if the topic presented were closer to my reality of being a good programmer, but not one of the uber geeks of the Silicaon valley elite.
previous employer did dog & pony shows (Score:2)
that way, the only booth and tables in the room were ours. selling big iron, software, services ,etc.
I haven't been to a real trade show since 1996.
Do any of the Comic or Anime -cons count. (Score:1)
That would boost the numbers, I am sure.
I'm an Exhibitor you Insensitive Clod (Score:3)
The only shows i've been too since 1999 (Brainshare from Novell) I was always the world's ugliest booth babe or a presenter so I went to work not to learn.
Yeah, see, I don't live on the coast... (Score:1)
I do occasionally go to trade shows related to my employer's industry, e.g., held by OLC. Those can be an hour away or less.
when I can... legally (Score:1)
I'm a government scientist (Navy).
New administrative regulations forbid attendance for anyone but the most senior (or politically appointed) scientists at anything which resembles a conference. Given that the way government scientists get a lot of their work done is by sponsoring conferences in areas we're interested in, this makes our job pretty hard.
Missing option (Score:2)
Missing option: Depends on whether there will be any hot booth babes/demo dominatrix/eye candy of choice.
(come on, somebody had to point out the real reason some people go to trade shows).
Cheers,
Dave
Never; better alternatives for networking (Score:2)
NAVC (Score:1)