embeddedWorld 2014

I was lucky enough to get chosen to speak at embeddedWorld 2014 in Nuremburg, Germany.  I gave a short presentation on using Yocto to develop a commercial product.  If you're not sure what Yocto is, don't worry, most people don't; it's a tool that helps Linux run on embedded hardware (like your WiFi router, for instance).  Rather than talk about a bunch of technical stuff I'll just stick mostly to just how the trip itself, impressions of Germany, etc.

General Observations
As I was flying from Dusseldorf to Nuremberg, I could see at least 4 nuclear reactors, quite a few windmills, and lots of solar panel installations (many on the roofs of houses and businesses and some empty fields with lots of solar panels in rows).  I also noticed lots of large-scale greenhouses in the farm fields, I couldn't tell if these were permanent installations or just temporary structures built over top of farm fields.  At least from the air, Germany looks very "green".

Once I got to Germany, the language barrier was not a problem at all.  I'd been told that there were alot of English speakers in Germany, but it really seemed that everyone spoke English.  It was funny too because most people would say "my English is not very good" and then they would go on to speak nearly flawless English.

Germany just felt very comfortable to me for some reason that's hard for me to articulate.  And I guess the Germans thought so too, because they almost always would initially speak German to me, until I asked "Sprechen Sie Englisch?".  The other people that came over with me from the States would usually get English right off the bat from the Germans they met.

We had several people also attending the conference from NI's Munich Office, and they were outstanding hosts, taking us to dinner each night and generally helping us out in any way.

I also found that business etiquette was a bit different:

1. It's expected to wear a suit and tie, the US standard of a button up shirt and khakis doesn't cut it.
2. Don't be late.  You'll get some very disapproving stares if you aren't punctual.

And this should surprise no one: Germans know beer.  Every beer I had there was excellent (and I had quite a few).  Don't worry about getting something you won't like; just drink it and it will be good.

I didn't have any time for sight-seeing so this is a crappy pic I took in downtown Nuremburg

Embedded World Exhibition Floor
The Exhibition part of Embedded World was crazy-huge, with 856 exhibitors and 26,000+ visitors.   It took me a long time just to do a relatively quick walkthrough of the floor.

I kept my eyes open for any LabVIEW front panels and I saw quite a few.  One of particular interest was a cool looking demo from Intel.  It's a slightly creepy looking insectile robot that plays the Chinese mandolin (not sure what the real name of the instrument is).  You can see the LabVIEW front panel on the monitor in the picture below.  The Intel guy running the demo couldn't say enough good things about developing in LabVIEW.

Presentation
My presentation went really well.  Almost every seat was filled; probably around 50 people.  I got some good questions and some compliments after it was over.  I also talked for a while with a couple of Intel guys that are heavily involved in the Yocto project.

Flight Back
The flight back was the only negative part of the whole trip. Coming in through Customs Stateside is no fun.  'Nuf said.