DAC is here and EDA begins the Rodney Dangerfield impressions

Just got the latest newsletter from Gabe Moretti. He opens with an overview of #DAC and gives a pretty good critique of the weak attempt to bring attention to embedded software at the conference, but about midway through he blames the media's lack of attention to the industry on parochialism.  He specifically calls out United Business Media's scheduling of ESC Chicago at the same time as DAC.

"Finally, has anyone noticed that ESC20 is taking place in Chicago during DAC?  Once again the EDA industry falls victim of parochialism, and the greed to make money at the expense of both users and vendors.  People at UBM certainly knew the DAC schedule.  So couldn't they schedule ESC20 around DAC?"

Let's call a spade a spade here. #EDA doesn't get attention from the media because they make no effort to explain themselves or their reason for being.  The attitude that "a good product sells itself" is stupid marketing, especially when your definition is yours alone.  In order to know if you've actually made something worth buying, you have to know what the market thinks is good. And you don't know that unless you invest in marketing... which EDA doesn't.

But let's just say UBM did make a conscious decision to rain on EDA's parade. Why would they think of doing that? Could it be that they make a boatload of money promoting an industry that actually pays for advertising and exhibit space from them? Could it be that putting a major conference at a transportation hub that can be easily reached by direct flights from all the nations of the world makes more sense than placing it at a vacation backwater that requires multiple stops to reach (San Diego doesn't make the top 10 of any business or vacation list I can find)? Could it be that there is more going on in other industries judging from the level of "news" I have seen coming from EDA companies the past few weeks, I think I know that answer)?

There was a time when mahor publication houses bent over backwards to cover the EDA industry.  EE Times, at one time had four editors dedicated to covering the industry and only two to the much larger industry of semiconductors itself.  Today, Electronic Products, Electronic Design, EE Times, Chip Design and a couple of online pubs all cover the industry and it's events, but not as comprehensively as in the past for the very simple reason that it is unprofitable to do so.

Just because you think you are important doesn't make it so. You have to demonstrate value, not assume everyone knows it.  Trust me, it's not the media being parochial. It's the industry.  Wake up and smell the coffee folks.  And stop being so damned cheap.