Thursday, April 28, 2005

Blogging Interphex...Day 1

Well, it's that time of year again...Interphex!!!

Great weather for a walk to the Javits Center...sunny and warm...much better than other years...it seems much further from the train station to Javits when it is snowing out...

Working the booth- even though it is early, it seems like a good crowd...I spent the morning working in our booth WGI and, in between providing stamps for the Mini Cooper give-away, met a bunch of nice people...in particular, I noticed a real international presence...members of the Russian Trade Delegation stopped by and several visitors were from South America.

Walking the floor- I didn't get to walk the floor until the afternoon...a whole new section has been added downstairs...I didn't get down there much, maybe tomorrow. I was mostly looking for stuff I need for work, mostly the facility stuff. Had to make sure everyone has my current address information! In talking to the Vendors, everyone wants to know if you're looking in regards to a specific project. Obviously, a real live project is still a rare thing these days and everybody is looking hard...

Equipment- Kudos to the various equipment companies for the amount of big equipment they bring to display...what an effort that must be...IMA wins the prize for "Best Piece of Equipment" with the full vial washer tunnel and filling line they had on display...along with a lot of other equipment. The disposable type equipment is obviously catching on. This equipment is maturing and the amount and variety on display was impressive. I was a bit disappointed that more of the equipment wasn't running in demonstration mode. I realize this is difficult at the show, but it makes for a great presentation...consider it a missed opportunity to show your equipment in the best possible light. The mixing demonstrations in the see-through tanks were very cool.

Cool Booths/ Giveaways- What's really important?...getting the cool give-aways!!! So who had the cool stuff?...the cool activities? Let's get to the bottom of this...Aramark had cool bouncy balls- just the right size...WGI had the cool construction Matchbox trucks- cement mixer/ dump truck/ plow matching set- very popular with people with kids (and immature engineers, just kidding guys...although I've got a set on my desk)...someone had little sticky-dart things- very high cool factor. The booths with activities draw a good crowd...I saw a basketball court which looked fun, a putting green- kind of last year, though, and a arcade-style motorcycle ride game which had people standing in line...

Interphex Connects- I had trouble getting past the login on this thing, as someone else had registered me and I didn't have the right password...the e-mail help function didn't seem to work...neat idea though.

Networking Reception- WGI hosted the Networking Reception and it drew a good crowd...the band was very good, but loud if you want to have a conversation...(did that just make me sound middle-aged?) good turnout with a thought-provoking presentation...oh yeah, we auctioned off an iPod, too...several people thanked us for the reception...I guess a cold beer goes good after a long day of booth-crawling...

Travel Hint- if you come in to the city by train (from the south), don't try to park at Princeton Junction unless you get there real early...

Well this will be posted later, as this all made for a long day...

more tomorrow...

keyword: Interphex blog



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