embedded world 2015 feb 24-26

[Sasja]

anyone been to embedded world that can tell me whether it's worthwhile?
I was hoping to go for work, but i was told it would be a waste of time,
i'm currently comparing embedded platforms for our product so i thought it would be relevant as well as fun.
experience anyone?

[dgtl]

Imho the best show here in europe if you are interested in components. Electronica is larger, but a little too crowded and it is much more difficult to get someone to talk to you. I've got to know quite a lot of news and updates at embedded world in the last years. It takes some digging at the net to keep yourself updated and you'll definitelty miss something because these are hidden at some back corner of the manufacturers web site. At the trade show you can just go through the booths at the halls of the subjects you are interested in and have a look. If there is something, find someone to talk to and ask them directly.

[babysitter]

Yes, go. I also go, I guess.

[Sasja]

shit
i'd love to go, i even offered to pay for the trip myself but i was assured i would be wasting my time.

[Galenbo]

... but i was assured i would be wasting my time.

By who? Is it an inspiring guy? What's his alternative?

I remember once being adviced the same thing, "because there's not much usable"
Turned out the guy himself wasn't "much usable"

Such things are always interesting for the one who's prepared to dig himself.

[Sasja]

No, i do respect him and he seems pretty reasonable, the kind of guy i hope to learn quite a few things from actually.
So i suspect he's right about it not being that useful for the company at the moment.I was just hoping to go to get a feel for what's out there a bit beyond the limits of such shorter time prospects. He proposed an alternative trade show much closer by but it seems like a mechanical engineer thing.

[Sasja]

btw i'd love to go to a mechanical engineering trade show, i think its fascinating stuff!  but it's not what i do.

[babysitter]

btw i'd love to go to a mechanical engineering trade show, i think its fascinating stuff!  but it's not what i do.

Yet?

After i got my professional degree i got sucked into sensors business by magic, and had to apply quite a lot of mechanical and materials engineering.

[Kjelt]

I went two times (8 hour drive) , it is huge and has three different interests:

- the show itself: IMO interesting but not great, a lot of marketing people that can or will not answer detailed technical questions. If you are in marketing or buying it is probably a must, if you are an engineer you might find some new components or get some contacts with firms sales people, don't expect 1:1 with other engineers or deep technical discussions, might happen but that is more a fluke. The nicest experience are usually the free dev boards 

- the conferences: they cost pretty much money, the ones I followed were very shallow, they talk about projects or market developments but rarely show it all or talk in technical depth about their effort and achievements. Universities are good conferences with new developments and since they are not in an industrial competition they tell more than companies. TIP: if the conferencetalk is over and you talk to the guys 1:1 at the hallway/coffee you sometimes can do very technical discussions and find out the interesting things. So this can be interesting if the talks are in the field of your interest.

Overall nice to go if the company is willing to pay for it, but if you have to pay for it yourself incl. hotels etc. I would skip it.

- the classes: also can be very interesting to do a 1 day class to get a feel of a subject you know too little about.

[Kjelt]

Oh yes and you can encounter weird creatures 

[tszaboo]

I was there three years ago, I think it is worth the time. You can talk to the engineers themselves, get business cards, and there is a lot of freebie. Make sure to check with your existing suppliers, sometimes they tell you about upcoming products or services, you can arrange samples on site. I dont think there is a better way to spend working time.

[Sasja]

boothbabes and free devboards!
i wanna go 

[Kjelt]

Anyone else going also this year? It,s next week.
I am spending Just a half day on the show it self, hoping for some nice freebies and two days on conferences that hopefully are better than a few years ago.