( DAC 02 Item 27 ) ---------------------------------------------- [ 9/10/02 ]
Subject: Best/Worst DAC Parties & Freebies
PARTY WHILE ROME IS BURNING!: Alright, everyone agreed this was a very
sparce DAC, but hey, since we're in New Orleans we might as well have some
fun and take advantage of terrain, no? My favorite was just to wander up
and down Bourbon St. listening to the live music and "people" watching. :)
"Best freebie: what I liked most and use it a lot - the blue bag from
DAC itself.
Best party: Denali for sure.
Worst party: Cadence (o.k. they had good music, but the rest ...)"
- Raimund Soenning of Philips
"The best party at this years DAC was by far the Verplex party. We were
taken aboard a steamboat for a trip up the Mississippi (which was
fantastic, especially for us Europeans who have never even seen the
Mississippi). Coloured beads were hung around our necks and party
heads placed on our heads. It was very amusing to see so many guys in
conservative suits with several multicoloured beads around their necks
and Indian Chief feathers on their heads!
Craps tables and roulette were set up downstairs and each guest was
given 1000 "dollars" to gamble with. At the end of the night, the top
five winners recieved a gaming system (I think it was a Nintendo Game
Cube). Sadly, I was not among the lucky five!
Food was delicious, lots of typical New Orleans cuisine and the music,
a jazz band, was delightful. The weather was perfect, with just the
hint of a breeze coming off the water to cool us down after a stressful
day running around the convention center. The only down point was the
comedian who wasn't much of a comic I'm afraid!
Verplex gets top marks in my book for an excellent party!"
- Virginia Petersen of AWi Publishing, Germany
"A lot more companies seemed to be giving away pens this year, and fewer
were giving away more expensive gifts. From an attendee's perspective
there are, of course, some advantages to a poorly attended conference.
You didn't have to wait to talk to someone at a booth very often, even
the most popular demos have openings, & it's easier to get invitations
to vendor parties (I had at least two every night). Still, it was
depressing to see how bad off the industry is right now."
- John Weiland of Intrinsix
"Biggest lie: Ray Bingham saying 'Tality hasn't been closed down, it's
just heading in a new direction' (yeah, down the toilet...)
Hey, we at Tality have been getting loads of our own freebies, as
marketing soon won't be needing them any more. Want a Tality
etch-a-sketch keyring, John? Or a Spectacle case?"
- [ An Anon Cadence Employee ]
"Best: The Verplex pens... had to get three, just so I'd get one after
the kids took the others! The Cadence radio is good, too!
Best party: Synopsys - free food, free booze, Ray Charles...perfect!"
- [ An Anon Engineer ]
"I thought the Synopsys/Artisan breakfast forum was an absolute waste of
time.
Why does Celestry do what they do? Last year it was a super soaker or
something and this year a scooter. I guess they have to spend their
money and then go out of business...
The Cadence party was quite drab though the music was good. Synopsys
had a good party, didn't go anywhere else."
- Jai Durgam of SiImage
"The worst party was the DAC party. It cost $40 for the experience of
running out of food in a hall with approximately 1/3 the required
number of tables and seats, and with a young kid screeching into the
microphone onstage."
- Fred Hinchliffe of Alternative System Concepts
"Best:
The nice coffee mugs from the free coffee stand care of Cadence and
Agilent. Great idea to allow refreshments on the floor (who wants
clean carpets anyway?) I am sure most of the mugs got taken home, but
also mostly by vendors rather than attendees. Just a pity that the
mugs ran out before the end of the show, as all that was left then was
the girl serving the coffee who had a personality that would take the
chuckles out of a mortuary.
WORST: this is really tough - either:
1) the Alpenstock (bloody great stick with a sharp metal spike at the
end), don't know who gave them away or moreover who thought that
they really needed one, I can just imagine there was a big pile of
these left at Louis Armstrong Airport - come on guys, have you read
what you can take on an airplane these days? Last time DAC was in
New Orleans some one gave away pool cues, this time the Alpenstock,
next time a chainsaw? A flame thrower?
2) the shrunken heads from Virtual Silicon (?). No, they were not a
cleverly concealed stress relief toy, or a container for candy, or
a cupholder; they were ugly plastic shrunken heads that would give
an average 5 year old child nightmares (or some very dangerous ideas
to try out.)
And finally, DAC planners, when are we going to make the break and stop
pushing DAC into places where no customer is within 200 miles?"
- [ An Anon EDA Vendor ]
"Best: Denali's party again was a raging college bash. Pleasent change
from the typical DAC parties... Everyone from CEO's to engineers were
there out on the dance floor jamming to the 70's dance tunes of Disco
Inferno. Gets better every year.
2nd Best: Verplex was a not to distant 2nd with the riverboat cruise.
Worst: Synopsys for not inviting customers at DAC who spend millions a
year on their tools. Pretty Sad."
- Sean W. Smith of Cisco Systems
"Celestry - Tried to do a whacky demo, had a good freebie."
- [ An Anon Engineer ]
"Scooter from Celestry and very nice drinking bottle from Summit.
Verplex boat Party was good. All you can eat on the boat and casino
games were fun (without using any real money, $1000 worth of playing
chips was provided.)"
- William Lam of Tvia
"Ill thought out: The Novas 'Cranky' dancing bug. Most of these things
go to the kids. This one has too many sharp edges."
Best party - Denali.
Why? Variety!
3 different music "rooms" in the same building allowing you to move
from Cajun to Jazz to Pop and back. You wanted to talk? You went to
the Jazz room. You wanted to enjoy a bit of N.O. spirit? You went
to the Cajun set. Finally, you could get lost in the hot and sweaty,
crowded and noisy, jump-all-together Pop-Music room."
- [ An Anon Engineer ]
"Stupidest gift - Virutal Silicon - plastic shrunken heads
Most annoying pitch at the show - Celestry - this shows the limits on
what people will listen to for something free (the scooter)
Best party - Synopsys / Avanti
Best food at a party (6 years running) - Mentor"
- Pallab Chatterjee of SiliconMap
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_] [_ Verilog, VHDL and numerous Design Methodologies.
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Legal Disclaimer: "As always, anything said here is only opinion."
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