The Design Automation Conference is over. The cowboy boots, 10-gallon hats and “Keep Austin Nerdy” T-shirts have been put in storage until DAC returns to Austin next year. For those of you from the electronic system design ecosystem who didn’t get to Austin this year, here’s a look at what you missed.

The parties –– from the opening reception, Jim Hogan’s Heart of Technology and IPextreme’s annual Stars of IP party hosted by Silvaco to the not-to-be missed Cadence’s Denali evening –– were lively, the Pavilion panel sessions and keynotes well attended and the giveaways were first rate.

Exhibitor feedback was positive, from my sampling, though you may have heard that attendance was down in Austin. While the attendee numbers haven’t been posted as yet, exhibitors didn’t seem phased by the perceived lower attendance. In fact, many noted that while the traffic at the show was smaller than in San Francisco, it provided higher quality attendees and more highly qualified prospects.

DAC was a great opportunity for the new Electronic System Design (ESD) Alliance to “strut our stuff” (minus the cowboy boots and Stetsons). Attendees and exhibits showed loads of interest in the new organization and stopped by our booth to learn more about our new, expanded direction and initiatives. Better yet, several companies committed to joining the Alliance based on our refreshed mission and momentum. Many others have asked us to follow up over the coming months.
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A reminder that the ESD Alliance –– a proud DAC co-sponsor –– will exhibit at DAC in Booth (#1920) Monday, June 6, through Wednesday, June 8, from 10 a.m. until 6 p.m. at the Austin Convention Center, Austin, Texas. Please stop by our booth to say hello and to learn more about our support of the Design Ecosystem. We’ll have plenty of informational handouts, including the latest edition of our newsletter, brochures on our new initiatives and membership packets.

Or, join us at the DAC Pavilion (Booth #1839) for, “Solving the Design Cost Puzzle: How intellectual property (IP) Fits,” featuring Jim Feldhan, president of Semico Research, Tuesday from 10:30 a.m. until 11 a.m. Jim will address trends and issues driving the rapidly growing market for third-party IP.

You’ll find many of us from the Alliance at the Gary Smith EDA kickoff Sunday from 5 p.m. until 5:30 p.m. in the convention center’s Ballroom D. Laurie Balch, a chief analyst for Gary Smith EDA, will open the annual reception with the annual update on the state of EDA, “Extending the Bounds of EDA.” The always well-attended DAC reception immediately follows.
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