Embedded Systems Conference, Boston-Captain's log Day 3

The final day at the our temporary home at the Hynes Convention Center in Boston…my feet hurt even worse if that’s possible, and I’m not alone, a group of us were considering commandeering one of those bellman carts to roll us in, but we couldn't agree on who might push so we walked in like everyone else.  It didn’t help that we all stayed out entirely too late for a “school” night!!

And the day begins, as soon as the show opens, everyone immediately puts on their game face and before you know it, all pain is forgotten and we’re soaring like eagles once again.  Clearly our customers energize us!!  Again the crowds are thick, but folks are less rushed, which is great, we are happy to have time to talk about our products a bit more and hear about our customer’s projects.  Everyone absolutely loves our new product selector guides (huge thanks to our creative director and our favorite TME!  We’ve got a little ESC swag for you when we return!).  Silvertel POE, Lantronix, GPS, WiFi, Telit Getting Started Guide…all are flying off our literature racks and into the hands of eager engineers.  Again a great day of conversations and deal-making and our team is rolling. 

Remember the temperamental RFID badge scanner, well our Director of Technology, just loves this gadget and has earned the name of the “mad badge scanner” for his talent  in going up to everyone who visits us and scanning their badge (sometimes without asking!).  During the cocktail party he even started tackling people in the aisles, although folks were just passing by our booth, he would walk right up to them and ask to scan their badge which of course start a conversation, every single person found out about something new and didn’t seem to mind our guerrilla tactics.  (Fortunately this playfulness was only for a few sporadic moments and not our entire strategy!)

We had a great team for this show; our Northeast office, who can not only work the booth but ARE the after, after party at social events,  Boston contingent from Lantronix and their cool little demo robot, the always cool and collected team from Telit, everyone’s favorite “chap” all the way from Wales who not only gives the best darn POE discussion but also sells the whole Symmetry line card, and of course the newest member of the crew, the Fujitsu Microelectronics contingent who did booth duty and plan great dinners! 

The show officially ends at 5pm, but most jam out to beat the Boston traffic at around 4…sadly we booth dwellers must wait until 5:00 to break down the booth and wait even longer for our empties to be delivered to the booth, next time we’re stashing some empties nearby, sorry GES…you guys remove the chairs quickly but we need our boxes faster!  Takes until about 8:00pm to get it done and that pain in our feet as returned with a throbbing vengeance accompanied by some new back pain (I have much respect for our warehouse team, it is a special talent to load a pallet properly!).  We last 2 standing have certainly earned a steak dinner at Abe and Loui’s! 

Note to self for next show:  Do it all the same, but next time, wear those cushy insole things in your shoes!  (hmmm maybe a show give away idea for next time, how many pens can people really need anyway!)