With fewer lighting presentations than in the past, but with most of the world’s lighting suppliers and many universities present, the SAE show started on Monday April 20, 2009.
Conference sessions are focused on energy reduction and meeting increasingly urgent needs for cost reduction and quality.
Yesterday, there was a poor attendance at the lighting room, around 50 people vs much more than one hundred last years.
In this time of crisis, the first reaction of a certain number of companies has obviously been to decrease attendance and R&D presentations at this SAE congress as an immediate lever to reduce expenditures.
I strongly believe that it is a mistake for innovating companies because:
– Presenting an innovation has the benefit to receive reactions and feedback from customers and experts from universities, and also from competitors
– Attending a congress greatly benefits all attendees who learn about emerging and developing technologies from round the world; this often provides good guidance to avoid going in a wrong direction.
Any lighting manager with innovative ambition has to have in mind these 2 benefits before stopping involvement in a congress. His target is clearly to follow a budget but also to prepare the future, when we won’t be in such a market crunch as we now face.
A comprehensive report summarizing the main presentations with pictures and comments will be published within 2 weeks, May 5, 2009 at www.DrivingVisionNews.com
Sincerely yours
Hector Fratty