Vendor Presentations-- Useless?

It’s tough putting together a conference schedule. You have to entice users with great subjects and find expert – and entertaining—speakers. I did it a few times when I was editor of CADENCE magazine when its parent company, Miller Freeman, was contracted to do Autodesk University. I also did it for a smaller show, MechanCAD, which only made it for two years. Setting up a conference schedule takes months of work. And you may not be able to offer speakers any money, not a popular notion for many who have only their time to sell.

Perhaps because of this, many trade shows resort to vendor presentations. Companies will gladly send people to talk about how good their their products are. You don’t need to pay them to do that. AEC/Systems was like that. NDES, where I am now, is full of vendor presentations. I imagine many trade shows have resorted to filling in the gaps with vendor presentations.

Companies ostensibly agree to talk about “industry trends” or in generalities but more often than not, the talk will turn to how their products offer the perfect solution and the whole thing becomes a thinly disguised sales pitch. And if the speaker has a conscience and tones it down, there’s almost always a bias.

What do you think? I know if you are a vendor, you will disagree. I’d like to hear from users if they have found vendor presentations useful. Ever.

Comments

[ralphg]

Responding to Rob MacEwen, I agree and am surprised when users are stunned to learn of features that have been in software "forever."

I recall a major author in our field, who has had a monthly column in a CAD magazine for years, ask me how I was able to grab dialog box images so nicely for my books. I told him about the Shift+PrtScr key. He was amazed. Never knew the capability existed.

(I have other screen-grab tricks, which I am reluctant to reveal. Must keep an edge, etc.)

[dave espinosa-aguilar]

i guess it depends on how 'in the dark' or how impressionable someone is who attends one. myself, after 20+ years of being in the industry, i have yet to find any vendor presentation useful. ever.

[RobM]

I am a vendor and I agree. They aren't all that useful mainly because of all the useless buzzwords. But I disagree with Ralph... Most customers/prospects have no idea what the possiblities are with existing tech. I see lots of jaws drop when the most basic concepts and tools are introduced.

[ralphg]

I find vendor presentations useful when they speak of new technology. Unfortunately, however, presentations tend to sell existing tech -- yawn.