Aftermath of the trip, pt 1

Well, another trade show, another bore.  Though because it was my first semiconductor show in China, there were a few things different.

The first thing different is that because this was a show in Asia, there had to be more booth girls.  In the US, this doesn’t really exist, though I don’t know why as it would make all the guys stay longer and perhaps solidify interest in products.  Of course, it may also attract people who aren’t really interested in the semiconductor industry as well.  But anyways, there were a fair amount of girls hired to tend booths.  Unlike Japan or Korea, or a consumer electronics show, the girls weren’t as attractive (except perhaps the Kodak booth).  Not to say they were ugly, but let’s just say they wouldn’t pass as models.  Not a lot of skin either, so don’t get your hopes up.

I hear there were quite a lot of vendors this year as compared to last; it seems like Chinese companies are finally starting to get some cash flow and interest in upgrading their equipment.  Lots of people trying to solicit themselves as reps, or just literally coming to your booth to try to sell their product (again, something different from the US).  Lots of students too, but that’s to be expected as they are trying to learn about the industry.  What I found funny though were the guys trying to solicit fake Rolex watches.  Somehow they got into the show and every hour or so there would be a guy who sneakily took a fake Rolex out of his bag and offered to sell it to us.  Welcome to China I guess.

Another interesting thing about the show in China is the level of energy put to building and destroying the show.  What I mean by this is that this is a three day show, and they didn’t even start construction of any of the booths two days before the show.  I had to tend to setup my company’s booth so I was there a day before the show started, and it was hell.  No carpeting, thousands of laborers everywhere constructing booths, electricians getting all the wiring done, it was crazy.  To be honest, it looked like I was in Mogadishu or something — that chaotic.  It looked as if it needed another month in order to get the whole show set up.  But nope, these guys worked like animals.  They would slave on for 48 hours straight just to get the show up.  And what do you know?  They really did it.

Now, the exact reverse happened 20 minutes after the show too.  As soon as the show was announced over, you got all the laborers coming in to rip up the booths and carpeting, etc.  In 20 minutes after the show, it looked like chaos again.  How quaint.

Anyways, that’s the dynamics of just the show for you.  Later I’ll tell more about the rest of the trip.