CDNLive! 2008 - San Jose: Day 3 ... Product Roadmaps, More Presentations, and Poker!

From the floor of CDNLive! 2008 - San Jose

Each day continues to show the value that customers and Cadence employees gather through networking with each other - learning about innovative technical solutions developed to enhance how we interact with the Cadence flows, solutions, and products.

A very intriguing presentation was made by Phil Gordon (Professional Poker Player/Analyst) to start the morning off. While Phil discussed strategies for winning at poker, much of his advice can be applied to both our business and personal lives. I encourage you to visit Phil's web site for details. Here's a picture of Phil delivering his advice -

I attended more customer and Cadence presentations from the PCB Design track. There are some complex as well as simpler (but powerful) techniques that can be applied within the SPB suite of tools.

The late afternoon sessions included the PCB and IC Packaging Roadmap details (presented by Cadence's Keith Felton - Product Marketing Director) and the Allegro Platform Technology Panel - Ask the Experts! This final session, moderated by AJ Incorvaia (VP Research & Development for the SPB Division) included a panel of key SPB technical directors across the entire spectrum of SPB products and solutions. They fielded many questions from the audience as well as suggestions on how to enhance the products. This is always one of the highlights of attending CDNLive and allows direct one-on-one discussions. Here's a picture of the panel experts -

The Designer Expo provided the opportunity to connect with Cadence partners spanning the entire portfolio of our solutions. Over 20 companies participated and customers could see demos, receive collateral, and network with representatives from these Cadence solution partners. Here's a picture from the event -

Finally, the big Poker Tournament wrapped-up the evening. It was a 4 hour festival of poker playing excitement. I never played poker before, but no worries - we were guided along and I really enjoyed the time. The finalists played at 3 different tournament tables with the action hosted by Phil Gordon. Shouts of "All In" pushed crowds around the different tables until the final two players went head to head. The Poker Tournament Champion was Derek Stephenson from Gennum Corporation. Derek's in the bottom left corner of this picture (the guy with all the chips!) -

There was also a raffle for a trip for two from San Jose/San Fransisco to Las Vegas with some cash tossed in as well to test your gambling skills while visiting!

Here's Derek at the winner's sign the next morning -

Tomorrow's the final day - hope to see you there!

Jerry GenPart