> I just attended the GSPx conference in Santa Clara Oct 30 - Nov 1 and
> it was a ghost town.  I am sure there were less than 200 people overall
> registered.  Wally Rhines of Mentor gave the keynote speech on Tuesday
> night at 6:00 PM and there were less than 100 people in the room.
>
>     - Gabe Moretti
>       GabeOnEDA.com                              Venice, FL
>       from http://www.deepchip.com/wiretap/061107.html


From: Amnon Aliphas <aliphas=user domain=gspx not calm>
To: John Cooley <jcooley=user domain=zeroskew not calm>

John,

It seems to me that a reporter has an obligation to present the facts and
to check for the accuracy of any numbers presented.  I am extremely
disappointed in the lack of professionalism exhibited by Gabe Moretti when
he posted this on your blog.  GSPx had a total of 1,032 pre-registered
people to the event and from those, 689 people picked up their badges
on-site.  I am willing to subject this number to an external audit.

It is time to hold accountable those self-proclaimed "journalists" such
as Moretti.  I believe that Mr. Moretti had an ulterior motive when he
reported such inaccuracies.

I appreciate the opportunity to presenting you with the real facts.

    - Amnon Aliphas, CEO
      Global Technology Conferences              Newton, MA

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From: Gabe Moretti <gmoretti=user domain=gabeoneda not calm>
To: Amnon Aliphas <aliphas=user domain=gspx not calm>

Ammon,

Here is an email I got from an EDA veteran that attended the GSPx show and
read my column on DeepChip.

  Gabe,

  Just got around to reading what you said about GSPx.  You were right
  there were only around 200 people signed up; the TV2Mobile track was
  the main draw; and the organizers did nothing to accommodate the press.

      - [ An Anon GSPx Attendee ]

Unfortunately I do not have permission to divulge this person name.  It
is possible that a number of people did pick up their badges and walked
through the GSPx exhibit floor.  It is also possible that there were only
around 200 people around every day but each day were different people.

If a significant percentage of all 689 people had been around more than
one day, then the keynote speech by Wally Rhines would have had a larger
attendance than the ~100 people that stayed after 6:00 PM to hear him.

Upstairs there were 4 rooms fully dedicated to presentations, plus rooms
203/204 were either empty or hosted a sparsely attended presentation.
The presentation by The Mathworks in this venue had 6 attendees.

Then there was the press room which was closed on Monday.  I am told that
there were significantly more press people at GSPx this year than last
year, yet no one reported on the conference as far as I know (beside me).

Of the 4 rooms dedicated to the presentations, 2 held at best 30 people
and the other 2 about 50 people.  With the exception of Monday, I never
counted more than 20 people in each room during a presentation.

It is possible also the exhibitors are part of the 689 you have counted,
since they had badges and so had to register.  That would add around 150
people to my figure.  The number of attendees you mention does not justify
the very low number of leads reported to me by the exhibitors that target
the EDA market (EVE, The Mathworks, Synplicity, Agilent), all reporting
disappointing numbers.

I walked by the GSPx registration area a number of times each day and never
saw a line or the staff fully occupied.  In fact most of the time there was
no one trying to register or pick up a badge.

    - Gabe Moretti
      GabeOnEDA.com                              Venice, FL

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From: Amnon Aliphas <aliphas=user domain=gspx not calm>
To: Gabe Moretti <gmoretti=user domain=gabeoneda not calm>

Gabe,

You still have an obligation to check on the facts and not perceptions.  I
am willing to provide a 3rd party with the names of the people who showed
up at GSPx and mail them a letter to have you confirm that they attended.

There has to be a responsibility of checking facts.

There is only one fact when it comes to numbers and anything other than
that is a fabrication.

    - Amnon Aliphas, CEO
      Global Technology Conferences              Newton, MA