Youse Gets What Youse Pays For
Alexander E. Braun, Senior Editor -- Semiconductor International, 10/1/2009
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One of Ring Lardner's zany characters had a catchphrase for whatever happened. Bad or good, wonderful or catastrophic, his philosophical remark would invariably be, "Youse gets what youse pays for."
I went to this year's SPIE Photomask conference in Monterey, Calif., and noted that attendance to this excellent event was down by ~30%, a situation similar to that of all industry conferences, in which the drop in exhibitors is made evident by the empty spaces and the absence of some of the larger companies.
While our industry's calamitous downturn worsened by a disastrous world economy hasn't helped — forcing everybody to downsize, reduce costs, and cut down on travel — this was already a trend.
For some time there has been the idea that the day of the big show and exhibition is over; that soon it will all be done in cyberspace and we'll attend conferences, or just those parts that interest us, from the comfort of our cubicles. It sounds very attractive — avoiding expensive troublesome travel, costly hotels and their bad meals, and having to send personnel out of the office leaving work undone; it has a compelling, almost Vulcan logic to it.
The problem is that we're not Vulcans, we're monkey-folk. Like all primates, we have an innate genetic need to communicate with our peers directly, scratch each other's heads, and find out right then and there who thinks what and why. A conference's give-and-take, questions and answers, discussions over adult potables and dinner, collaring an expert to ask a specific question, networking, brainstorming resulting from a just-seen presentation, ideas hastily written on a humid paper napkin before they evaporate from the gray cells — all these personal, one-on-one interactions that take place during these events cannot be duplicated remotely.
It isn't that the technology to do it isn't here; it's that we aren't there — there's little or no interaction. We've all tried to view webcasts and other technical events over the Internet from our cubicles. Constantly, at the back of your mind, is the fact that you're at work, that you might be perceived as slacking off. Many things distract your attention, your thoughts wander to the half-written report awaiting you in the same computer you're using to view the event, and even if you persist, the office environment with phones ringing, noisy coworkers talking, meetings, isn't conducive to following complex presentations, benefitting from them, and perhaps even attaining that elusive "Wow!" moment.
It's an easy cut that instantly improves the bottom line — a bean-counter's delight — to send fewer people to conferences and not exhibit. But companies still expect the benefits of the information and networking, to see new products and the technology advancements.
I spoke with Brian Thomas, event manager for SPIE, who talked about his organization's work. "Our primary mission as a non-profit society is to advance science and technology; to a great extent we do that by organizing conferences and exhibitions. However, these are still businesses supported by revenue from exhibitors and attendees."
Thomas recognized that exhibiting is a considerable investment. "But that's the event. If nobody exhibits or presents papers, opportunities for exchanging, learning and networking disappear, as do the proceedings that publish the industry's collective research. Companies that think they can send staff just to 'walk the floor' miss the point that without industry support, someday there may be no floor to walk."
It's not simple to organize such an event. Organizers must negotiate and sign contracts years in advance to secure a specific facility and dates, arrange support services, and negotiate reduced-rate hotel rooms. And if the facilities or the hotel rooms aren't used, they must still pay for them.
"Attendance and participation in a technical conference is analogous to R&D," Thomas said. "If as a company you don't do it, you'll fall behind. If conferences begin to disappear, you'll end up with engineers working in a vacuum."
And as far as that goes, don't get me started on companies that cut print advertising and expect the benefits derived from exclusive technical articles, specialized news gathering, and industry coverage to continue to flow as freely as heavenly manna.
Youse gets what youse pays for.
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