November - December 1999
eMail the Editor
The CSI/SMTA International Shows Revisited: And Never the Twain Shall Meet
On the desk in front of me are two show programs. One is for the Chip Scale International show. The other is for SMTA International. If I had grabbed only the slender, but pocketable, CSI guidebook, I would not have known that half the show §oor was occupied by SMTA International exhibits.On the other hand, when I picked up the fatter and somewhat unwieldy SMTA International program, CSI's 60 or so exhibits were conspicuous in their absence.
The colocation also featured two press rooms, two show management offices, two attendee/exhibitor registration sections, etc. We've seen this concept of colocation work elsewhere, but it certainly didn't play well at the San Jose Convention Center in September. Additionally, there was much confusion over the luncheon with keynote speaker Dr. Jim Gibbons of Stanford University. Was this the SMTA luncheon or the CSI luncheon? And, by the way, what room was it in?
As it turned out, the SMTA treated luncheon attendees like SMTA members, ignoring the fact that most were not. Much of the luncheon was devoted to presenting awards to various SMTA people who were no doubt deserving of commendation. That's fine for an SMTA member lunch, but this was an amalgam of people with different interests. After these presentations, Dr. Gibbons was forced to rush through his carefully crafted presentation on Silicon Valley startups, so that people could return to their technical sessions in time.
The CSI show by itself, in terms of exhibitors, is probably too small to be cost-effective or to draw a large audience. Ditto for the SMTA International event. If Reed Exhibition Companies/SMTA and SEMI can't demonstrate greater cooperation next year by running these events as a single show, they should regroup. Based on our past experience with both Reed and SEMI, we vote for SEMI, a non-profit industry organization, to carry the banner.
Still there were good points to this event. Parking, compared to SEMICON West, was cheap and plentiful. And the mood was upbeat, like SEMICON West, confirming our earlier belief that the recession is over.
On a completely positive note, our January/February 2000 issue will welcome the new millennium by reviewing the global impact that chip-scale electronics is making on the world. Please join us as we welcome the next century. Meanwhile your thoughts about this magazine or the industry are always invited. Please e-mail me at gselven@aol.com -and don't be bashful!
Sincerely,
Gene Selven
Publisher