Re: adobe poor representation at conference

[Jo Francis Byrd <jbyrd -at- byrdwrites -dot- com>]

Abode was there??!!! I never saw their booth...but then, it was difficult to see ANYONE's
booth, considering the timeframe we had to see any exhibits.

I was VERY disappointed in the exhibits. Not very many there at all - not that I blame anyone
for not bothering to honor us with their presence. The exhibit hours were ridiculous: noon to
6 on Sunday (most of us weren't there, yet; I didn't get into the hotel until 5:30, I barely
got to register before the booths closed at 6), 8 to 2, then again 4 to 6 on Monday (and I
was in sessions nearly the entire time; the 2 PM session turned out to be short, went down to
check them out, they were closed, open again at 4 - when I was in a session, got out, went
down and they were closed so we could attend those SORRY regional receptions. They were open
again from 8 until noon on Tuesday (I finally did get to visit between the two morning
sessions), but had to shut down and leave at noon. The conference wasn't over until WEDNESDAY
afternoon. VERY poorly done, in my thinking. If I were an exhibitor, I'd have probably
thought twice about being there or sending my best people, too. I mean, why bother when
people won't have time to visit and learn about me, for crying out loud!

The sessions, most of the ones I attended, anyway, were great, the Sunday night reception was
good - for a little while until the hotel yanked all the food - the luncheons were good...the
hotel....well, I won't give my...um....uncensored opinion. Suffice it to say I will NEVER
willingly stay at such an overpriced, self-important,
try-to-wring-every-cent-possible-out-of-you joint again.

I didn't get to go to Cincinnati, but I was in Anaheim two years ago. Everything about that
conference was great. The hotels, while expensive, didn't seem out to take you for every
penny possible, the receptions were wonderful, I remember twice as many exhibitors.

Because I have to pay for everything myself, I really don't care about the thrill of being in
Disneyland, Disneyworld, whatever, don't care about all the side activities (though if I had
my family along, it would be nice for them to have something to do while I attended the
sessions). I come to learn. I didn't find it as easy this time.

Jo Byrd

John Prince wrote, in part:

A bit of a follow up on a question asked last week about if Adobe would be at the STC
conference.

Well, they were - but they weren't.

Now I'm not here to bash adobe (Frame is my favorite software of all time). I just thought I
would share my experience with them at the conference.

The booth was the worst booth (by far) at the conference. No spectaculars, no "goodies", just
a computer and a few press releases. That's fine, except it really stood out as being odd to
have such a poor exhibit (especially for a company that's as big a player in our industry as
Adobe).

The exhibitor (while being very cute) knew little about her own product. Turns out she's in
Marketing. I wanted some info on Frame-XML. Adobe obviously taught her a few "buzz-words"
like well-formed, validation, DTD, etc. However, when I asked to see the source code for the
XSL style sheet, her wheels shot off. I had to get on the computer and start using it myself
(and it was nice of her to let me do it). I don't fault her, I fault Adobe. Don't send a
Marketer by herself. At least send along a Sales Engineer. I went to ArborText's booth and
when the
sales rep couldn't answer my question, he introduced me to someone at the booth who could.
This woman knew more about XML than anyone I've ever met. She was telling me how someone at
her company wrote the DOM spec for XML, etc.

The worst part is that on Monday (I wanted to show my boss Frame 6.0) I went to the Adobe
exhibit, the girl was gone. The setup (if you want to call it that) was still there, although
the computer was turned off. I asked someone in the booth next to her if he had seen her and
he hadn't.

So all in all, I was *very* disappointed in their "presence" at the conference. It's a good
thing that I am already a big fan of Frame, because I don't see how they picked up any new
customers at the conference.