Birds, Dogs, whatever
First off, for me – well I’ve said it before, DAC is not really my show, mostly because test and DFT are not very well represented. But I showed up about mid-afternoon and talked with some of the test-related vendors, such as WinterLogic, TSSI, SynTest, Genesys and LogicVision. More on those conversations in another post.
I was traveling light, so no laptop. I had also neglected to re-check the location of the BoF session and wandered around for a few minutes searching, before recognizing Richard Goering and asking directions (irony alert: blogger asks journalist for directions to a blogging event – I know, right?).
I walked in as David Lin of Denali was being harassed mid-way through his presentation on corporate blogging. There was an animated discussion trying to triangulate the definition of blogging. Are you really a blogger if you’re just publishing white-papers for your company? Isn’t a blog just the modern day equivalent of a ‘column’? Of course there was the predictable exchange between the journalist and the corporate marketer about the current plight of the EDA press.
A fairly good mix of folks showed up (there seemed to be 30-40 people all-in-all, you’d have to ask JL what his count was). John Blyler and a couple other journalist-bloggers from Chip Design magazine were there, as well as Richard Goering, and Peggy Aycinena, all except Goering professing to be bloggers in their own way. Also in attendance seemed to be several marketing/PR people, there to figure out how communicate with bloggers – I hadn’t realized we were that hard to contact – but I think the real question was “how can I use you as another channel to my customers?” There was also Janick Bergeron of Verification Guild – and the aptly dubbed “Original EDA blogger”, John Cooley, was also there. My only complaint is that the “independent” EDA blogger was somewhat under-represented.
After another short talk by Steve Liebson, the attendees took some time to introduce themselves and their interest in EDA blogging. Then JL attempted to open he floor to some different topics for discussion – when a curious thing happened: He asked me what I thought of publishing solicited content, and as I answered – no lie – half the room suddenly stood up and left. What is something I said, or… ? It was quite comical, really. But I’m a good sport, so I checked my arm-pits and continued.
Anyway, aside from the fact that most of the conversation seemed to center around the blog as a marketing tool, it was all good. I’d like to thank JL, Harry, Sean and David for putting together a fascinating event!
Stumble It!
I think your remarks unfortunately started just as the clock struck 7 and folks realized that the DAC party had started. We did get about 45 folks at 6:30 or so and had a great conversation until about 8pm. It was great meeting you.
Thanks for taking the time to do such a thorough summary of what was an interesting and somewhat surreal event. I was struggling most of the evening to think of some angle to use on my blog to describe what happened, but you did such I good job I’ll just link to this post.
John,
For those of us who weren’t there, do tell – what was your answer??
Karenb
blog: http://www.synopsysoc.org/thestandardsgame
Hi Karen:
Thanks for reading!
I’m not sure if I ever did get the answer out at the meeting, and if I did, it probably wouldn’t have come out right anyway. I wasn’t feeling myself last night.
However, my answer is this:
I enjoy writing about DFT-related news and products that come out, and if it takes linking to the press release, that’s OK – because when someone gets sent to the source of my information, they understand the information better.
I will always try to put my own spin – communicate why it’s interesting to me. However, I won’t take the text of any press release and use it as my own – as I’ve seen others do before. As a writer, if you’re interested in what you’re writing about, you’d want to put your own words to it, no?
JMF
I think some folks from Mentor Graphics attended as well. I like the dog analogy.
http://communities.mentor.com/mgcx/blogs/icnanometer
John,
It’s good to “meet” another kindred spirit! I’d add that putting press release text into a blog post makes the post boring (sorry, all you press release writers).
I’m hoping the DAC BoF group (the EDA bloggers) continue to get together. Perhaps I can host the next time. Anyone want to help me organize it?
Karen
John,
I’ll take some blame for everyone walking out in the middle of your response – I should have had us take a minute or two break to let everyone head out to the other events of the evening. Next time I’ll know better!
Regardless of that, I think we still ended up with a great discussion, even though we didn’t perhaps get to hit on some of the things those of us who blog really cared to talk about. My take? Assuming we do this again next year we ought to perhaps set up two distinct sections of the session – the first part where we could have a panel which included the general mix of the audience discussing things (and letting the journalists blow off some steam) and then a second part focused strictly on blogging. That way, the folks who aren’t interested in the mechanics can leave and we can carry on with our own discussions.
Thanks again for all your help!
Take care,
JL
Hey John (JL, Sean, Harry and others),
Terrific write-up. It was great meeting you all yesterday. What a stimulating discussion! I was glad to have been a part of this inaugural session and do agree that having more “independent” bloggers like yourself would have been a welcome addition to the conversation (and help take me off the hot seat! LOL).
Additionally, I was surprised (delighted? worried?) that bloggers are now able to command press credentials at DAC and other conferences. Wow!
Anyway, this morning’s panel about New Media was also quite interesting, almost a continuation of our discussion from last night covering topics from organization of blog content to evolution of press releases and, of course, the state of traditional media companies.
-Dave
Nice report! Thanks for sharing. I wish I could have been there. Glad DAC will be in SF next year!
Thanks for all your comments – I really did enjoy the event, and JL, I did not take any offense whatsoever at the inauspicious timing of the mass exodus. It was pretty funny, actually, and made for a good story, so think nothing of it!
I do think we should do it again next year – DVCon or DAC is good for me, but DATE’s a stretch. However, it might get a new mix of bloggers involved!
I was quite surprised by the large press/ marketing presence at the BoF event. I think I’d expected more of an independent EDA blogger crowd, talking about how we could get the press/ marketing people to pay us any attention or take us seriously.
Apparently many of them already do.
All in all, a fun session, even if you got somewhat interrupted by the exodus.
Hi John. It was quite a meeting, eh? Lots of information with an equal among of misunderstanding. Sorry the press made such a strong appearance, but it’s a life and death issue for us. One that we’ve been discussing for some time now, so we tend to pick up the conversation where we last left off.
Next time I come to such an event, I’ll leave my press badge at the door and just participate as an engineer who likes to write. Or better yet, a “pre-blogging” blogger. (Does anyone remember Tony Perkin’s Always-On Network?).
Cheers.
BTW: This is John Blyler.
Hi John (or Dark, as you may prefer):
No need to apologize for the press presence, and predomination of subject matter – it was interesting. I’ve been following that same thread of conversation for quite awhile, through Lou Covey’s blog, Brian Fuller, your own blog, and others. I empathize with your plight. It’s a rapidly changing landscape, and I think we ‘neo-bloggers’ want to be able to add value to it, more than anything else!
Thanks for reading!
JMF
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