The new Anaheim Convention
Center, with artifically-planted palm trees
Probably the most difficult aspect of attending a tradeshow is being at the receiving end of the inevitable open-ended question, "So, what'd'ya see that's interesting?" This time, when people asked, I pulled out my Sony Clie, where I had joted down ...
Four Trends
... that jumped out at me:
Update: Coming at the end of its press release describing the "Show Highlights" of A/E/C Systems 2002, Penton reported that "slightly more than 5,000" registrants attended, less than half the number expected (12,000).
Exhibitors Visited
In the two weeks leading up to a show, members of the media are typically inundated with phone calls and emails from pr [public relations] people asking for appointments.
This is how it works: each vendor has the equivalent of a dance card. It's the job of the pr person to ensure the dance card is fully filled out. For some, unfortunately, they care not who is on the list -- just as long as the card is full.
Then there are "encouragements" to attend these meetings. One software vendor sent members of the CAD media a box full of goodies three weeks before the show. Another offered a free meal. Others may hand out small presents at the end of the meeting, or provide exclusive information about future, unannounced products.
Sometimes, a show bulks up its list of media attending. I also received calls to visit with exhibitors at some East Coast medical devices show. Is there something medical sounding about upFront.eZine?
Enterprixe Software
The most-interesting product at the show wasn't at the show,
which is perhaps why it was not included on the best-of-show lists produced
by magazine competitors 'Cadalyst' and 'Cadence'. In the Desert
Springs ["Isn't that a contradiction?" asked my 11-year-old daughter,
Katrina, who came along on this trip] meeting room at the adjacent Marriott
Hotel, Enterprixe Software showed their software for collaborative building
design over the Internet.
In
the demo, Petri Kokko conducted an international design collaboration
session, with an architect and an HVAC engineer in Finland and a structural
engineer in Russia. All four worked on a building design at the same time.
The
model is stored in a database located at Enterprixe's office, which serves up
the data to the client machines. Rather than sending graphical updates, the
local machines receive database info, which is much faster over the Internet.
You can use Enterprixe to
perform the design work, or else integrate another CAD program, such as Architectural
Desktop. More info at http://www.enterprixe.com/products.php3
Tailor Made Software
Earlier, at a breakfast meeting in the also-adjacent Hilton
Hotel, ceo Scott Taylor and marketing vp Michael Celiceo brought
me up-to-date with Tailor Made Software. The company is in its third
iteration, after merging with and then splitting from ZoomOn software
of Sweden. The "new" Tailor Made company has ten employees worldwide,
no two of whom share the same office.
Mr
Taylor has always specialized in conversion and manipulation of CAD data formats.
The prime product is CADViewer, a thin-client, OS-independent, browser-based
file viewer and marker-up. The big push from Tailor Made will be in the direction
of wireless animation of vector graphics. http://www.cadviewer.com/products/aboutcadviewer.html
VirtualDesign
Yet another collaboration product was from VirtualDesign. This one's main claim to fame is that its VirtualDesign.net technology does multi-point video and full-duplex audio. "Multi-point" video means it handles multiple video streams -- as many as your bandwidth allows. A limitation is that the software requires Windows 2000 or XP. http://www.virtualdesign.net/vworkspace2.asp
DesignMaster
One company, DesignMaster of Seattle, reminded me of the eager excitement of the early days of A/E/C Systems from the mid-1980s. Two brothers and their dad were offering HVAC [heating, ventilating, air conditioning] and electrical load calculation and design within AutoCAD (and not Architectural Desktop). http://www.designmaster.biz
Eagle Point Software
In contrast, the long-established Eagle Point held
a press conference to announce -- not new software -- but a new direction: client-centric.
Rather than pumping out software products and, as ceo John Biver admitted,
being a telemarketing organization bent on sales only, the company decided to
change direction. Customers told him, "We don't want new features as much
as we want existing features to work." [Do I hear a cheer?]
This
is possible only because Eagle Point is now privately held. Instead of having
to satisfy its shareholders by reporting higher sales every three months (as
do most other CAD vendors), Eagle Point can concentrate on the long-term, five
to ten years out. http://www.eaglepoint.com
Xerox Engineering Systems
Mark Neiss of Xerox Engineering Systems showed
me their new Synergix monochrome and color scanners with FireWire connection.
In the Xerox booth was also ImageSite Web-based document management software
from eQuorum, and SmartPrint cost recovery software from Technesis.
http://www.xes.com/products/synergix/
http://www.equorum.com/products/imagesite.htm
http://www.smartplot.com
Magazines
I was glad to have a chance to finally catch up with 'CAD User' magazine, whom I hadn't heard from in several years. Editor David Chadwick filled me on how the magazine tried to expand aggressively with editions for most CAD-using countries in the world, then found it was simply to expensive. They've retrenched to a single UK-based magazine, broadened from AutoCAD-only to cover all CAD systems. As an example of their Internet integration, Mr Chadwick pointed to the magazine's TenLinks-like press release headlines, with links to the 'CAD User' Web site, should the reader want more info on the product. http://www.caduser.com
Unlike most other AutoCAD-specific magazines, 'A' magazine continues to target the AutoCAD user. Subscription is free. http://www.solidvapor.com/amagsubs/
Update: TenLinks.com reportedthat Solidvapor is ending its 'A' magazine (for AutoCAD users) with the July/August 2002 issue. Replacing it is 'Augiworld' magazine, the official publication of Autodesk User Group International. Solidvapor also produces Autodesk University, the Discreet Resource Guide, the AUGI Web site, and other marketing events for Autodesk.
Smog and forest-fire smoke on our arrival in Los Angeles.
Editor Ralph Grabowski and daughter Katrina visit Hollywood.
San Francisco at dusk, from the air.