Archive of the 'Show Floor Zingers 2008' Category

Did you see all the models on the floor? The Hyundai exhibit included some very cool models of equipment way to big to bring into the exhibit floor. I had tried to get photos of them, but the crowds were so thick taking photos didn’t work very well. Yesterday morning I was on the floor about 8AM taking photos of everything I could not during the show before the crowds. Yep folks, PES gave me the run of the place and I took advantage of it. Of course I met a lot of the security guards this way. I might add they were very nice folks too. After they checked my credentials, they told me to have a nice day and sent me on my way.

I had to go back to the folks at Delta-Star to get the story about the Harley. Delta-Star is celebrating their 100 anniversary. They decided to give away this beautiful Harley at the PES Expo. It fits me perfectly hope I win. Pam rolled her eyes at me when I got on it, but agreed to take the photo. She has been a great help with all this blogging and going around to the exhibits with me.

I have been talking with the exhibitors over the past couple of days and they are saying this is the best Expo they have attended. They love the crowds. Their exhibit floors have had steady traffic. The people visiting have been their customers. The one thing that worries them is the amount of future work this represents. They say the customers are talking real projects and about buying equipment.

Someone told me there were Harleys on the exhibit floor. I saw a lot of different types of equipment, but Harleys? Well it is true. I had to do some hunting to find it, but there it was at the Delta-Star booth. It was surrounded by a crowd of guys. No wonder it was hard to find – I should have looked for the crowd. Come by Delta-Star and find out how to win it.

I just went to the PES press conference. Pat Ryan (PES Executive Director) asked me why I haven’t talked about the name change for PES. I told him I was waiting for the offical release (I thought that was what we were meeting for today). Turns out this is old news - the T&D Committee Chair missed the announcement. Our President, Wanda Reder told everyone on Monday that we are now the Power and Energy Society. Where was Gene? Well, I was off lining up some folks to talk to my students for the tour of the exhibit floor. I missed the opening, but I got the students a couple of good demos. The students by the way were very excited about the student job fair started here. They got to visit with over 50 employers today and talk about careers in our industry.

I got side tracked in my wanderings when I noticed a strange noise coming from the floor below me. I went over to the rail and looked down and what a surprise - dang, there is a water show going on at the McCormick Place. I stood there for at least 5 minutes and no one was watching except me. It is a great show. Everyone is in a hurry to get somewhere. I can understand that, but don’t get so focused you miss beauty right in front of your nose.

In my latest wanderings, I stopped at the Southern States exhibit. They have some pretty interesting technology on display. Raj Anand calls it enabling technology. Things like the CMD (current measuring device) – watch it measure current, but not have to be part of the circuit. The Cap Switcher is pretty interesting, but the RL Switcher really got my attention. Ask them about it. Tell Joe that Gene sent me. He can explain anything – heck I understand it when he explains. I wish I had had an instructor like him in my under graduate work.

I was following my nose taking photos as I went when I ran into Mark Wells at ABB. He set up the exhibit and was really excited about the numbers of engineers on his floor. They were pushing buttons, pulling levers, and just having a ball with real hands on. I’ll have to get back there and play myself - Mark said I could.

Trevor Kryt of GeoDigital has some pretty neat things on the floor. Imagine being able to fly a transmission line with 6″ accuracy. He inputs the data to PLSCAD and they can do all kinds of neat things with it. Go see him and play with the toys he has

Hey – look out there is a line truck heading up this aisle! Yes, there was a line truck following a fork life right down the main aisle. Did ComEd take a wrong turn? You’ll have to come to the show floor tomorrow to see. I tried to follow, but it was rush hour and I lost him. Whoa, how the heck do you loose a line truck in the convention center – it’s a gift.