Congratulations to Richard Goering for a Great Career

The recent death of EDA analyst Gary Smith overshadowed another major transition in our industry: the retirement of longtime EDA journalist Richard Goering at the end of June. Both of these men contributed an extraordinary amount to EDA, and today I’d like to say a bit about Richard and his accomplishments. He is best remembered as the CAD/CAE/EDA editor for Electronic Engineering Times, for many years the newspaper of record for electronics.

It would be hard for today’s young engineers to imagine how influential EE Times was at its peak. It stood out on everyone’s desk with its distinctive tabloid format. Most buyers turned to its pages first. All vendors wanted to achieve editorial coverage for their companies and products, in addition to advertising there. The EE Times journalists and editors were some of the best and brightest. Landing an interview with one of them was a goal for every PR campaign. When it came to EDA, Richard Goering was the man.

I can tell you the exact date when I was first quoted in an article by Richard: August 22, 1994. I had appeared on a panel at an event called the TechWin EDA Forum that was covered by EE Times. Richard picked out my pithiest comment and quoted me accurately. Perhaps it sounds silly today, but I was genuinely excited to be considered worthy of coverage by the leading electronics newspaper. Of course there were also excellent writers in other publications (EDN, Electronic Design, Computer Design, ASIC & EDA, etc.) but Richard was king of the hill.

I met Richard a few times during this period, but when I moved into the IP/EDA market myself and started pitching press releases I talked with him more frequently. I was frankly a little nervous on my first few interviews with him. He could be intimidating, firing off questions rapidly as he typed loudly and furiously in the background. Richard didn’t write about a press release just because it existed. It was up to us to convince him that we had something new or different in the market and to explain clearly why and how.

He was a master at cutting through corporate hype and marketing fluff to get to the meat of a story. But even his expertise and great reputation could not withstand the online media avalanche that reduced readership, decimated advertising budgets, and led to the demise or downsizing of many publications. EE Times all but shut down their EDA coverage in 2007. Richard moved on to establish a pioneering independent Web site where he continued to provide the industry the benefits of his insight.

Richard’s final job was part of the online team at Cadence, where I welcomed him as a fellow blogger in early 2009. He was instrumental in helping the company formulate its EDA360 manifesto and he achieved the very delicate balance of working for a vendor while still being seen as an open-minded industry expert by the vast majority of his readers. For many of us, his Industry Insights blog was as essential as his EE Times articles had been back in the day.

In my view, Richard had a great career that brought much value to our industry. Some of his colleagues continue to cover EDA well, but it won’t be quite the same without him. Given all the changes that have occurred for magazines and newspapers, plus the multiplicity of online sources, we will probably never again see so much influence from a single individual. We thank Richard for all his past work and wish him well in whatever new adventures his retirement brings. Bravo!

Tom A.

The truth is out there … sometimes it’s in a blog.

Tags: Breker, Cadence, dac, EDA, editor, EE Times, Electronic Engineering Times, functional verification, Gary Smith, journalist, LSI Logic, portable stimulus, Richard Goering, SoC verification

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