Archive of the 'All Things IEEE 2008' Category

The 2008 IEEE PES T&D Expo is history now.

The very first Show Blog is history too. I picked up some new nick-names along the way too. I have been called the “Blogger,” the “Bloggist,” the “Bloggster,” and my favorite the “Blogmeister.” I have never worked so hard at a PES T&D Expo, but I have never had so much fun either. I met a lot of old friends and made a lot of new ones. My head aches with all I have learned. Now it is time to switch from the past; it was fun, but it is over. We have to start thinking ahead to New Orleans in 2010. I talked with Tommy Mayne about 2010. I even got a couple of stories (something about King Cakes and spin the bottle), which I can’t repeat here and a string of Mardi Gras beads. He is in high gear, moving like a Tasmanian devil, a whirlwind, and he is stirring everyone up for the 2010 IEEE PES T&D Expo. With Tommy involved, I know we are going to get “lagniappe” (something extra) for our show. He and his team have a lot of work to do and not much time to get it done. As Tommy always says to me, “Laissez les bon temps rouler!” (Let the good times roll!)

I was talking with John Estey (President S&C and Past PES President) about the new IEEE PES award honoring Doug Staszesky. S&C is sponsoring the award. John provided this poster for the blog. He was very close to Doug and told me they find out how much they miss him every day. He was such a driving force and touched so many lives.

Yesterday at the PES press conference, Wanda Reder, PES President, announced a new award has been approved by PES. It will be called the Douglas M. Staszesky Distribution Automation Award. It is to be given yearly to a person in the industry who has demonstrated the enthusiasm for promoting and implementing Distribution Automation Projects. Doug recently passed away, but was told of the honor a few months ago. He said, “This is truly a high honor and just the sort of legacy I’d like to leave the industry.” It includes a scholarship to the school of the recipient’s choice and a travel stipend to the awards banquet. Doug was a good friend to all of us and we will miss him. He helped me with a lot of articles I have written. He could really get you excited when he explained a concept. Stop by the S&C exhibit and talk to them about the award. They have supported this award from the start.

What a week! I have been planning for this conference for months now. Sunday finally came and we were in Chicago. Monday I was on the floor dodging fork lifts and trying to stay out of everyone’s way, while still taking photos of what was going on for the blog. Tuesday was the big opening and now it is Thursday morning – where did the time go? The last figures I heard were over 12,000 for the attendees. Tommy is going to make an announcement this morning as to the exact numbers. His eyes were sparkling when we talked. I think he is happy.

After the press conference I was talking to Cheryl Warren (PES Secretary) about the camera I have been using for all the photos on the blog. She is a super photographer and uses a Canon. I prefer the Nikon – it gives us a point to bicker about at times. Noel Schulz (PES Treasurer) came over to see what we were having so much fun with and we took a photo for the blog. Paula Traynor (PES VP of Technical Activities) saw what we up to something and wanted to be part of the fun, which attracted Wanda Reder (PES President). Here is our photo –enjoy.

Have you ever considered the commitment the PES president makes to PES. I ran into Al Rotz today. He is our President-Elect. As we talked about what was going on with PES, I got to thinking about our officers commitment to the office and to PES. The President-Elect takes part in most if not all of the meetings with the President. Not only that, but the Immediate Past President is also available to help answer any questions about what took place on their watch. This system gives the President a storehouse of data and information. At the committee level there is the same type of commitment. There is a Vice Chair, a Chair, and an Immediate past Chair all working to keep the committees functioning smoothly.

With the interest in manufacturer’s displays, Dick Erdel of Hubbell called me to talk about the Hubbell exhibit. The Hubbell display covers (3,500sqft) 7 business units and is modular. It comes in 108 crates! It has to go back in those same crates too when they tear it all down. They use it for a lot of shows and have to keep modernizing and updating. Part of the exhibit is 25 years old, but you could never tell. It takes 3 semis to haul it around the country. This is renewable at its best! Thanks Dick. I welcome any and all comments.

I was talking with Steven Strand from S&C about planning, designing, building, and staffing an exhibit. He told me S&C has a very large if not the biggest display in the show – Chicago is home and they are proud of it. They started working on the 2008 Chicago Expo the day after the 2006 Dallas Expo closed. S&C started manufacturing equipment the first week of January. Dozens of contractors and employees have been committed to the effort. It will take them 4 to 5 days to set it all up and will be staffed with close to 200 sales people from around the world. That is commitment. I’d welcome any and all comments. Tell me what you think.

Okay, I have talked with my friends Tommy Mayne and Carl Segneri and have a pretty good perspective from the organizer’s view point, which will be the subject of more postings. The undertaking is awesome, but runs so smoothly (planning is the reason) that most attendees never consider what it takes to keep them so unaware. But, what about the exhibitors? What do they go through to have the attention grabbing floor space everyone will be talking about years later? Remember the talking robot that wandered the show floor a few years ago, or the New Orleans jazz band leading everyone up and down the main aisles, or the Swiss Village recreation, the Dallas Cowboy Cheerleaders, the Blues Brothers? They all make up exhibitors’ efforts to make our visit memorable. Exhibits come in all sizes, shapes, and complexities. For that reason, I contacted another friend, John McDonald. As Immediate Past President of PES and GM of Marketing at GE John has been on both sides of the equation. The amount of resources committed to an exhibit is remarkable. At first glance GE’s exhibit is a comfortable habitat for attendees. It will be about the total experience of thinking “outside the bowl.” Rumor has it there will be fresh baked cookies – that got my attention. Audio/Visual technology will be inclusive, but not intrusive. To achieve that goal, 50 to 60 people (engineers, designers, A/V experts, computer geeks, technicians, you name it) have been working on this exhibit for the past 3 or 4 months – that is a lot of man-hours. The entire exhibit (a 60′x60′ space) was assembled and tested. It was then taken apart and packaged for shipment to Chicago. It comes together next week. I am going to see if I can get some more exhibitors to share their experiences. I’d welcome any and all comments.

When you talk with Carl Segneri you can’t help getting excited. He is totally focused on the pending PES T&D Expo and showing off Chicago at its best. With less than a week to go he says, “You can taste the excitement in the air.” Carl is the Chairman of the Organization Committee. In 15 minutes, he gave me a two hour overview of the gargantuan effort taking place to host this event – I got excited. The “Windy City Wise Guys” (30 organizing leaders) have worked for roughly two years arranging for hotels (over 20 last count), food service, transportation (18 buses), technical sessions (rooms, projectors, etc. in McCormick Place), and volunteers. Yep - an army of over 320 volunteers has been assembled. The volunteers are the key to a successful Expo. They will be giving us directions, staffing information desks, riding on the shuttle buses, manning the bus stops, guiding our companions, and most importantly being a friendly face in crowd we can turn to for help when needed. With over 20% of the Expo attendees coming from overseas, Carl explained one of the biggest challenges was finding interpreters. Fortunately the team has found a couple of dozen volunteers with this talent –these “Wise Guys” are on top of it. I’d welcome any and all comments.