Press Room

APEC actively encourages the press to come to Anaheim and participate in the conference. For credentials and a press pass, please contact the APEC 2004 Offices.

PRESS RELEASES

APEC 2004 Summarized in a word....."choices"

Larry Gilbert, APEC 2004 Publicity Chair, February 28, 2004

APEC 2004 was held at the world famous Disneyland Hotel in Anaheim, CA, on February 22-26, 2004.

Using a single word to describe this years activities I have selected "choices." To broaden the OEM community interest the Conference Committee added three Special Presentation Sessions containing reports from leaders in the power electronics industry. These were some of the highest attended technical sessions. Another new "choice" was the inclusion of 87 poster session, specialized, papers that received very high scores in the peer review phase of our program preparation.

"Choices." To decide each day which Professional Education Seminar or Technical Session presentation you will attend as we expanded from five to seven in parallel.

Prior to opening the Plenary Session, General Chair James Kokernak read a welcome greeting from CA Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger which reads in part: "California is a leader in technology and science, and I commend the valuable contributions of the engineers, authors and electronic professionals whose discoveries improve our lives and build a pathway to the future."

It would be impossible, in this limited space, to share specifics on the many excellent presentations provided during APEC 2004. However, let me indicate that the Plenary Session on Monday afternoon, with over 500 in the Grand Ballroom, was perhaps the best I have ever attended. Mentioned in that session, as approved by the committee, was a "design competition to help spur (the) market for energy efficient power supplies" by author Andrew Fanara representing the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. At the conclusion of the plenary session a Press Conference, with detailed handouts, was conducted.

In the Feb 23rd issue of the Orange County Register was a lengthy article by technology reporter Tamara Chuang promoting the Micro Mouse competition that was being held that evening. T.V. reporter Hal Eisner and two cameramen from FOX news, covered the event which appeared on their 11 PM newscast. The broadcast segment on Micro Mouse closed with a live feed demo by handler Kelvin Chau Chin Wei from Singapore, with his mouse named Min 3G, who had the fastest time at 12.08 seconds.

In comparing APEC 2003 to APEC 2004 we had a 50% increase in registration for both our Professional Education and Technical Sessions. Considering that the economic recovery is still in the early stages, the committee was very pleased with the support shown by our attendees. Once again I can report that we had a "sold out" Exhibition Hall where every one of the 148 booths was taken. In recognition of our responsibility to keep the exhibitors happy, we continue to provide an endless supply of food and beverage in the hall on Monday evening. This year's buffet was no exception. I broke the rules. Reporters are not supposed to dine when we are on the job. However, how can I describe the food if I don't taste it? "Choices." We had several food and beverage locations where the attendee could get soft drinks, beers and a selection of wine along with VHSITO (that I did not sample) to mini beef Wellington, individual size pizza, spanakopita triangles, ham and cheddar croissants, egg rolls and smoked turkey cut to order.

Drawing of raffle prizes, another hook to keep attendees in the exhibit hall, was again a highly popular activity. This year's winners were as follows: Jonan Xiaonan Lu chose a Sony DVD; Cristina Fernandez from Spain chose a MP3 player; Dayu Qu chose the Sony Handycam; J. Marcos Alonso Alvarez chose the Olympus Camera, and the DELL Laptop computer, donated by DELL, was chosen by Maja Harfman Todorovic, a research associate from Texas A & M.

The best booth, give away and happiest salesperson, as voted on by the attendees, was International Rectifier (I.R.), I.R. and Lisa Harrison (of I.R).

On Wednesday evening 730 brave hearts took the short walk from the hotel to the California Adventure theme park. As it had started to rain the hotel gave each of us a free Disney poncho.

Once we arrived in the theme park we were directed inside one of the many buildings where we selected "choices" from chicken or beef skewers, along with a variety of pasta dishes in red or white sauce, cheese and crackers, fruit and assorted beverages. Deserts were provided at the Animation Building where an artist was available to draw your caricature in less than 60 seconds.

After dining we were afforded two attraction "choices.": the Soaring Over California ride or to be participants on Who Wants to be a Millionaire which turned out to be an interactive audience participation contest.

One thing that I observed, and captured in some of my photos, is that attendance at APEC is a "family affair." i.e. Over 25 years ago I represented a manufacturer of power supplies where one of the engineering managers was Richard Keller. I had not seen Rich in 25 years. He was there, as were many others who may have retired from their firms, yet make it a point to return to APEC to share old stories and catch up with advances in technology.

Looking ahead, APEC 2005 will be held at the Hilton Austin in Austin, Texas March 6-10, 2005.