IPC Did have a booth at PCB West. They shared it with PCB Libraries promoting IPC-7351. However, they no longer bring standards for sale. I believe that you can make out a purchase order that they will process and ship you the standards. They have had a booth for the last two PCB Wests and I believe also the last PCB East. Gary Brooks,Bill wrote: > Hmmm... very well written... I don't think I could have competed with that > Jack... :) > > I have to say I am disappointed that I was not able to attend PCB West, but > I think my boss has signed up to send me and the other designer who works > here to PCB East this Fall. > > No Designers Council Booth at PCB West? I thought they would have had one. > Well, I heard they had one at 'IPC West'... but I wasn't able to attend that > either... too busy, as usual. > > You are so right about the feeling of working solo but as you branch out > some you discover there is a lot more to this career than just a paycheck > and BBQ and a 'SAMUEL ADAMS' on the weekends. > > I do miss Steve's harmonica playing and joking around... he always had a > smile and some new thing he was working on to share... the world would be a > very interesting place if there were more folks like him. > > That's kind of why I really appreciate the folks who are involved with the > Designers Council... They make life interesting and challenge me to step out > of the cubicle from time to time and communicate with others of my kind... > :) > > Uncle Pete, if you're listening in... I'm lookin' forward to a brew and some > good conversation like we had in Minneapolis awhile back... hopefully this > fall. Jean, you made an impression on me when I competed in top gun in > 2000... as has Gary and Rick, and Mary, and Alan, and Andy... over the years > you have all had an affect on us and touched our lives and careers and I > missed being there wit yas... > > [Oh Auntie Em'... there's no place like home... <sniff>] > > Sorry I just had to break up that way overly serious moment with a > weee-bit-o-'umor... > > And Jack... you're definitely the 'Helter Skelter' guy... no doubt. > :) > > Keep smilin' (it makes people wonder what you're up to) > > Best regads, (New England for regards) > > Bill Brooks > PCB Design Engineer, C.I.D.+ > Tel: (760)597-1500 Fax: (760)597-1510 > Datron World Communications, Inc. > Vista, California > > > -----Original Message----- > From: Wolfe, Robert [mailto:[log in to unmask]] > Sent: Thursday, April 12, 2007 2:58 PM > To: [log in to unmask] > Subject: Re: [DC] Jax Remix: PCB Design Conference 2007 > > Jack, > Just gotta say you are spot on with that rendition of the experience. > I have not been able to attend a West in quite some time > and it's been a couple years since a trip to an East. > But boy do I sure do miss the experience!!!!! > You are absolutely right it was one place we could all get together > for the learning, networking and laughing. > Very Well Stated. > > Bob Wolfe > > > -----Original Message----- > From: DesignerCouncil [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Jack > Olson > Sent: Thursday, April 12, 2007 5:39 PM > To: [log in to unmask] > Subject: [DC] Jax Remix: PCB Design Conference 2007 > > Hmmm, I always say I'll write "Jax Conference Remix" if anyone asks > about > it, so here goes.... > (you asked for it) > > Maybe it was the fact that my flight was cancelled and I arrived an > entire > day late and then spent the next day with Top Gun so the conference was > half > over before I even caught my breath, but things just didn't seem the > same > this year. > It was a joy to see old friends, and it really does feel like a family > reunion every March, but there was something about it... maybe I > shouldn't > even try to describe it. > > (Now I'm nervous, because I don't really want to say anything negative > about > something I love and truly look forward to every year) but I guess I > could > start by asking: > > "Why Do Designers Attend the Design Conference?" > First and foremost, they probably justify it for technical reasons. > There's > a lot happening in our industry, its difficult to keep up, and PCBWest > is > one place where a Designer at ANY LEVEL of competence can find good > instructive classes. So, we go to LEARN. > Well, the classes I attended were top-notch, the speakers UPMedia finds > for > these lectures are incredibly competent, and although I couldn't attend > all > of them, the ones I heard were GREAT! But that being said, the > proceedings > disk has only 18 papers. I looked back in my archives for previous > years, > and I think this is the first time that there was ever less than 20, and > 2003 had a whopping 53! Is that a bad sign? Maybe not, if you are > getting > what you need to keep up. Quality over Quantity, right? > Speaking of learning, for quite a number of years I have been one of the > judges for the Top Gun Competition, and part of that is an interview. > One of > the questions I ALWAYS ask is "Where do you go to learn new design > techniques? If you are being asked to design something using a > technology > you are not familiar with, where do you go to learn about it?". Would > you > believe, no one ever says " I look for it in an IPC guideline", or "I > ask > the Designer's Coucil", or "I learn in classes right here at the > Conference". > Nope. > No one in my memory has ever answered like I would expect. Its always > something more like "I ask the guy who sits next to me" or "I call a > friend" > or "I call a vendor", or "I look for an application note". Maybe one in > twenty ever mentions IPC or a Conference. Isn't that strange? Maybe not, > but > I thought it was worth mentioning. Speaking of Top Gun, this is the > first > time that I have ever judged a design that got a PERFECT SCORE in every > category! Randy Holt from ODA submitted a gorgeous design, and fully > deserved the title. Congratulations, Randy! > http://www.pcbwest.com/topgun/ > > Secondly, I think its important to get away from the daily grind every > once > in awhile, get a fresh perspective, see what everyone else is up to, and > just relax for a moment. I don't even bring my laptop to the Design > Conference, because its "me time" and I almost treat it like a vacation > (hope my boss isn't reading this) But hey, I want to immerse myself in > what > is there at the conference, not sit in my hotel room answering email, > right? > So I got nothing to say but good stuff about that, except to wish that > more > people would attend, or that we could ALL get together in one HUGE > conference that no one in their right mind would ever miss. Ok, so I'm a > dreamer. Here's some pics: http://www.pcbwest.com/gallery/ > But the networking is invaluable, and you get to see and hear about new > things (like did you know one of the Mentor Technology Award winners > board > had over 2.2km of traces? WOW!) Here's more about that: > http://www.mentor.com/company/news/pcbtechawards07.cfm > One of the highlights for me was getting to hear a live rendition of > "Designer's Lament" by Off-Grid CID > http://www.pcbwest.com/song/ and I was fascinated to see one of the > instruments being played at the Porch Dawgs concert was designed and > created > by the musician, who is a board designer. It was an electronic marimba > type > thing that used alot of complicated coils and serpentine routing, I wish > I > could show you a link to it but I lost his card. (and what a surprise to > learn that Andy's awesome Hawaiian shirts cost $10 at Krogers) I could > go > on, but this is already gonna be the longest post Ive ever written here > (can > you top this one, Bill?) so... > > Thirdly, we like to feel like we're part of something. Many companies > don't > design enough new products to support more than one circuit board > designer, > and quite often a single designer ends up supporting more than one > company. > The end result is that MANY of us work ALONE. Year in, year out, mouse > in > one hand, coffee in the other, interacting with the world through hi-res > displays. So this is a chance to walk away from that environment and > gather > together, and realize that there other people like us, and for a couple > of > days feel some comradship (is that a word? dunno, but its a feeling). I > just > didn't feel that this year, and maybe its because we are getting > splintered > into more and more little conferences instead of one big one. Now IPC > has > gone off doing their own thing (which I haven't ever heard another > designer > say they really like), now I hear about NEW conferences in Chicago and > maybe > other places. IPC didn't even bother to have a booth at PCBWest so I > couldn't even cash my annual "$50 Designer Council Coupon" like I used > to, > it just doesn't feel like we are all on the same page anymore. > > I never thought I would be one of those OLD guys who talk about "the > good > ol' days", but does anyone remember Ken Gilleo's presentation of "The > 100 > Year History of the PCB"? or the display on the exhibit floor of "The > History of PCBS"? or the panel discussion with Happy and Joe and Phil > about > "what PCBs will be like in 100 years"? or Pork Chops' rendition of a > train > wreck on harmonica? There wasn't anything like that this year. Maybe I'm > just feeling nostalgic, or maybe the glory year of The Design Conference > really was 2003. > Finally, I heard something this year that really got me thinking. > (Uh-Oh!) > Maybe the math isn't perfect, but I think the Mentor Graphics User Group > Conference had more designers attending than IPC, PCBWest and PCBEast > COMBINED! Wha? > And here's what I was thinking about THAT: > About ten years ago, I published and article in which I stated "User > Groups > are Dead". I won't try to repeat the whole thing (sigh), but the point > of it > was that when I first started in this industry, there weren't many > places to > learn about PCB layout, so I attended every single PCAD User Group > meeting > and read every issue of PCDesign mag cover to cover. Then The Internet > and > The Design Conference came along, and my philosophy changed to this, > "You > know, its pretty easy to learn software, and its a lot more difficult to > learn good design practices". So ever since, I have avoided the software > conferences and concentrated on the design stuff. NOw I'm wondering if a > shift in perception is warranted. The whole PCB design world has pretty > much > polarized into "Cadence People" and "Mentor People" (and kudos to the > renegades who are cranking out freeware and open source tools, highest > respect to YOU), but maybe people already know which umbrella they are > going > to stand under, and it makes more sense to concentrate on that umbrella. > What I mean is, I know we are gonna be on Mentor's leash forever (here > at > Caterpillar, anyway), I know I'm already a pretty good designer, and I > know > where to go if I get stuck, so maybe what I DON'T know is how Mentor is > going to influence my life. > > So maybe User Groups have come back to life, because that software IS > our > life. Maybe that's why a huge majority are attending the two big > software > conferences rather than design conferences? I'm thinking Mentor is > feeling > pretty confident now, and when you notice that their booth is smaller > than > the CAM350 booth, that says something. (confidence.) So the last user > group > conference I attended was VeriBest in Boulder, a LONG time ago. Maybe > its > time I check in with MUG. > > So, How was IPCWest? Was anyone there? > > Love ya, > Jbro (aka "Helter Skelter") > > -=-=-=- > > > On 4/11/07, Stout.Jean <[log in to unmask]> wrote: >> So Jack, since there are no answers to this email, how was PCB West? >> >> Jean >> >> > > ------------------------------------------------------------------------ > --------- > DesignerCouncil Mail List provided as a free service by IPC using > LISTSERV 1.8d > To unsubscribe, send a message to [log in to unmask] with following text > in > the BODY (NOT the subject field): SIGNOFF DesignerCouncil. > To temporarily stop/(restart) delivery of DesignerCouncil send: SET > DesignerCouncil NOMAIL/(MAIL) > Search previous postings at: www.ipc.org > On-Line Resources & Databases >> E-mail Archives > Please visit IPC web site > http://www.ipc.org/contentpage.asp?Pageid=4.3.16 for additional > information, or contact Keach Sasamori at [log in to unmask] or 847-615-7100 > ext.2815 > ------------------------------------------------------------------------ > --------- > > > DISCLAIMER: > Important Notice ************************************************* > This e-mail may contain information that is confidential, privileged or > otherwise protected from disclosure. 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