August 15, 1997

Leave the smoke and mirrors at home, please

If the technical conferences turn into three-ring circuses, then these shows will no longer exist in their current form, and the electronics industry will suffer as a result.

Some of the conferences I've been to this year, including IEEE's ISSCC (International Solid State Circuits Conference) and the recent CICC (Custom Integrated Circuits Conference), have left me somewhat disappointed. On one hand, I was impressed by the breadth of technical achievement in many of the papers and presentations. On the other hand, unfortunately, the energy that some companies' PR divisions put into trumpeting these accomplishments, as well as the high-level "marketing-fluff" tone of some of the lower quality talks, both ob-scured important facts and gave the events a carnival-like atmosphere.

"Look at our huge new memory chip! (Oh, by the way, it's only a test pattern, and we could get only a few bits to wiggle.)" "Come see our blazingly fast microprocessor demonstration! (And please ignore the huge refrigerator under the tablecloth, necessary to keep the whole thing from melting into a puddle of silicon.)" "So, how low can the voltage go? (Unfortunately, we made this chip on an incredibly expensive X-ray-lithography machine that costs more than the gross national product of some third-world countries.)" "I'd like to take this opportunity to waste your time with a marketing pitch on a product that was introduced months ago, and, of course, I'll answer no questions that deviate from my script or that would cause me to divulge anything proprietary about the chip's design, manufacturing, or testing whatsoever."

When these supposed technical conferences were great, they were really, really great. I saw audience members asking some presenters questions and getting honest and comprehensive answers, not "I'm sorry, but you'll have to sign a nondisclosure first." I saw engineers interacting during breakout sessions, swapping ideas, advancing the state of the art in front of my eyes and ignoring the fact that their companies were bitter enemies in the market.

Technical shows are supposed to be forums to share thoughts, solve problems, and achieve breakthroughs, not podiums to trumpet your company's leadership by rehashing old news with no additional information or to publicize technologies that everyone knows won't see volume production for years. Long transitions from the R&D labs to the market are fine--that's how this industry works--but don't try to pretend they don't exist.

I'm not naive; I have a semiconductor-marketing background, and I know how tempting it can be to use every available forum to tout your company's greatness. But here's my concern: If the technical conferences turn into three-ring circuses, if the marketing folks start showing up and dragging the vice presidents along with them, if the engineers as a result clam up and stop talking freely with each other because the environment is no longer "safe," then these shows will no longer exist in their current form, and the electronics industry will suffer as a result.

Leave the PR people at home. Let the papers and the achievements they represent speak for themselves, without 10-pg glossy press releases and catered cocktail parties. Unbind the engineers; let them share their ideas and go on turning the tantalizing promise of Moore's law into reality. Save the hype for Comdex.

EDN Access | Feedback | Table of Contents |