Posted on June 29, 1998
I
went to PC Expo because our product, PREMIO Titan 2100 server, was selected by
Computer Reseller News for a live demo.
This was my first time attending this show, and I figured PC Expo was simply a
prelude to COMDEX/Fall in mid November. And I was right...
Well,
that's my PC Expo/NYC trip in a nutshell. I could've taken a lot more pics on the
show floor. But if you've seen one Pentium II system, then they all pretty
much look the same. I wished I had more time to visit the Statue of Liberty,
but no such luck. Oh well, perhaps next time...
I went
to PC Expo in New York City on June 16-19. For those unfamiliar
with PC Expo, it's yet another computer trade show, similar to COMDEX. This
where all the computer manufacturers can show off their latest and greatest
products to the corporate world and IT people. At least, that's what the PC Expo website claims.
But it seems to me that the majority of attendees were end-users. Which
isn't necessary a bad thing, but it looks like PC Expo is turning into
COMDEX/Fall in Las Vegas.
The
front of our booth on the show floor. We didn't have a huge, sprawling booth
like Microsoft, but I think it got the job done. A couple of our NJ sales
rep were working the front counter, handing out 3Com flashing buttons. Just
goes to show you: at any computer trade show, if something is on display and
free, people will line up for it.
Here's
another picture of the booth from the right side view. We demoed the Titan
2100 series server running Lantastic as a PBX system under Windows NT 4.0
Advanced Server. We were also joined by Ted Hunter, one of PREMIO's VAR
(Downtime in Maine).
Here's
a pic of the back front counter. I think the PREMIO logo looks way cool, with
its neon-purple color. From left to right in the blue denim PREMIO shirt is:
Anna (Marketing/CA), yet another Anna (Sales/NJ), and Debbie (Sales/NJ; she's
not big; she's just currently pregnant!).
Sony's
booth was right next to our's. They had a mock up of the Empire State Building
with a helicopter hanging from the top. This, of course, is from the movie
Godzilla. The most impressive product at the Sony booth was their new
VAIO 505 Superslim notebooks. It weighs in at a mere 2.8 pounds and it's
less than 1.8 inch thick. Comes equipped with a Pentium 266MHz processor,
10.4" TFT screen, and a 2.1GB HDD. Very, very slick.
The
top half of the Empire State Building as it falls into the city below. Sony
was demoing their digital cameras in this area. I, being a great believer
and consumer of Sony products, took all these pics you see here with my trusty
Sony DSC-F1 digital camera.
The
show only lasted three days (thank god; unlike the mind numbing five days for
COMDEX/Fall). So all things must come to an end. It was time to tear down
the PREMIO booth, and sent it onto the next show. It's a total mess taking
down a booth. Everyone's tired and just wanna go home. So things get packed
as quick as humanly possible. That's Scott (another NJ sales rep) standing
in the middle there. You can't tell from this pic, but Scott is one
pumped up dude ("Yah, he will crush you like a girly man").
So
now everything's all boxed up. Now we just gotta wait for the cage to come
so we can shove all the boxes in and go home. We waited and waited;
it took a good 45 minutes before our cage finally showed up. Which isn't too bad.
I remembered waiting for two hours at a previous COMDEX/Fall; now that
wasn't fun at all.
I've
been to the east coast a few times before, but this was my first time
in the Big Apple. Didn't really have a chance to do any sightseeing, since
I'm not into that kinda of stuff anyway. (If you've seen one major city, then
all of them are pretty much the same.) But I figured since I'm here anyway,
I might as well check out the Empire State Building (ESB). This pic was taken
in the front entrace/lobby area.
The
top of the Empire State Building. It costs about $6 to ride the elevator to
the top.
A
nice view of Manhattan from the top of the Empire State Building. Manhattan
is a pretty crowded and densely populated place. Actually, it reminds me
a lot of Japan.
One
final pic from the top of the ESB. Nice sunset...
