Note from the ESD Alliance’s Bob Smith: Nicolas Athanasopoulos, OneSpin’s head of digital strategy, gave us an overview about what he plans to present next week at the ESD Alliance-hosted Digital Marketing Workshop. Now, we’ll hear from Dave Kelf, chief marketing officer at Breker, about why he’s so bullish on developing and implementing a content marketing strategy. We look forward to seeing Nicolas and Dave Thursday, April 26, at SEMI in Milpitas, Calif. We hope you’ll join us.
Engaging with prospective customers is one of the most increasingly difficult challenges all companies in the semiconductor industry face today. It’s even more challenging for small companies like those I’ve worked for over the years. And, it’s not getting easier using our traditional marketing and sales techniques.
Sure, most startups can attract a few early adopters, those guys who are the lifeblood of the fledgling organization that help drive early development. But getting key people at mainstream accounts to return emails or a phone call has become increasingly difficult. This is now a major problem for sales managers in general. Scaling a business has never been tougher.
At Intel, Drones Reimagine Fireworks and Reinvent Light Shows
By Anil Nanduri
For the last 1,400 years, fireworks were predominantly the only way audiences could experience a light show in the sky. Now, in the 21st century, welcome to the next generation of light shows, thanks to Intel drone light show technology.
From performances on one of the largest international stages – the opening and closing ceremonies of the Olympic Winter Games PyeongChang 2018 where Intel achieved a new Guinness World Records title for the opening ceremony flight – to lighting the Las Vegas Strip and performing with the Fountains of Bellagio, and most recently at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival, Intel has been thrilling crowds and making headlines with our drone light shows.
Press Kit: Drones at Intel
It is believed that fireworks date back to the seventh century, when the people of China first used them to accompany festivities. While fireworks amaze the young and old alike, there are pollution and safety concerns, with many cities banning shows due to the concerns. Additionally, the sound of traditional fireworks is known to upset farm animals, family pets and young children.
Technology courtesy of drone light shows provides an opportunity to experience the night sky in different ways. Think of drone light shows as modern-day fireworks that are green, reusable and more precise, providing programmable control for a new generation of aerial artisans and technicians. And they include innovations that effectively address many of the issues associated with traditional fireworks shows.
The big news this week is from the ESD Alliance and SEMI. We announced a memorandum of understanding where the ESD Alliance will become a SEMI Strategic Association Partner.
Jointly, the ESD Alliance and SEMI will provide great value to our collective membership. Under the SEMI global infrastructure, our geographic reach will expand considerably, a goal I set when I became executive director three years ago. As a global organization and platform that’s been around since 1970, SEMI will provide us with the opportunity to further expand our reach and activities beyond North America. Our members will have access to SEMI’s global platform with offices and forums all over the world. 
Otherwise, nothing else will change and working together will expand the charters of both, representing our member companies as we’ve been doing and promoting their value as vital components of the global electronics ecosystem. Our board of directors will continue to govern the ESD Alliance’s distinct community, setting the organization’s direction and will function as an Executive Advisory Council of SEMI.
In the past, SEMI’s focus had been on electronics manufacturing and largely on the semiconductor supply chain. Its mission now encompasses the entire electronic product design and manufacturing chain. With the ESD Alliance, SEMI strengthens its ability to serve the entire electronic product manufacturing chain and benefits with direct engagement from our design ecosystem expertise. The charter of our technical programs, initiatives and events complement SEMI’s technology communities and activities that include advocacy, standards and environment, health and safety.
I often joke that my job puts me in a difficult position, as I am a software guy and a very large proportion of Mentor employees are hardware design specialists; I am consorting with the “the enemy”. Although I am making a light-hearted comment, there is, sadly, something of an “us and them” attitude between software and hardware teams in many companies. It is in everybody’s interest to make this a thing of the past.
Sometimes, it seems as if this view is reasonable, when hardware seems to be designed specifically to make life hard for software developers …