This month issue An Independent Journal Dedicated to the Advancement of Chip - Scale Electronics September - October 2000 Email the editor

Gene Selven Publisher

It's difficult to believe that SEMICON West has come and gone so quickly! I'm not going to go at length into how great the show was, or how upbeat the attendees and exhibitors were.

Nor will I digress to say what a lousy booth location we had, compared to our competitors.

I'll let Rick Short, our friend at Indium Corp. of America, do that. Rick e-mailed us to say, "Congratulations to show management for delivering this vibrant event. Now, to respect both the international exhibitors and visitors, and to foster continued industry growth, please provide a venue that offers attendees the chance to visit all the exhibits without venturing down hallways, into back rooms, to (literally) the wrong side of the tracks or into remote chambers." Thanks, Rick.

Still, we were mighty glad to be there! (Will this mean a better location next year?)

I do want to talk briefly about what our readers and advertisers told me at the show about our magazine. When I heard the many unsolicited positive comments, I was gratified (although not totally surprised).

People told me:

• You're reader friendly-"It's easy to find the table of contents, staff box and advertiser index." (That's intentional. We put them in the same place every time.)

• Outstanding editorial-"We use it as an authoritative source."

• Reaches our target market.

• Great response from our ad!

• We keep the entire issue as a reference-We don't tear out certain articles and toss the rest of the magazine.

• Nice to see a publisher taking an interest in attending press conferences and briefings.

Thanks for your comments, everybody. And thanks to you-our readers, advertisers and editorial advisors for making Chip Scale Review the success it is today!

Before I close, I'm going to assume the mantle of industry prophet (which I ain't, but that doesn't seem to stop many people who think they are).

One forecaster, who shall remain nameless but who's tied in with a large brokerage/ investment banking firm, has predicted the end of this industry's recovery at any moment.

We beg to differ. Based on future ad reservations, comment from advertisers at SEMICON and input from show exhibitors, we are looking forward to finishing out a dynamic year, followed by another in 2001. As for 2002 and beyond? Has anybody got some extra crystal ball polish?

Gene Selven, Publisher

[gselven@aol.com]