Rank higher in Robotics Online search results with free POP points!

By Brian Huse, Director, Marketing & PR, Robotic Industries Association

 

For a limited time, you can get free POP points that allow you to rank higher in Robotics Online searches. Normally $495, POP points are included at no charge with any advertising bundle order in October.

 

What is a bundle?

Qualified members get free or deeply discounted ads in the Robotics Industry Directory. A bundle upgrades these ads from good to better and includes online ads at discount rates. Bundle advertisers save money and stand out online and in print.

 

What is a POP point?

Similar to how AdWords work on Google, POP points increase your visibility to Robotics Online users through a weighting system that jumps member content ahead of those with less points in a category. You choose the categories and apply the POP points yourself. Order an ad bundle and get FREE POP points!

 

Why October?

Robotic Industries Association goes into production for its 2009 Robotics Industry Directory soon. Members must tell us now of any plans to use their ads. For most, that is free. The bundle is for anyone anticipating 12 months of online ads beyond the print Directory and interested in an arrangement that saves money. POP points are for good customers and a way for us to give sincere thanks.

 

Order Bundle by                   Get this many POP points

October 10                             10 ($4,950 value!)

October 17                             8 ($3,960 value!)

October 24                             6 ($2,970 value!)

October 31                             4 ($1,980 value!)

 

How to order a bundle

Call me and I’ll handle the paperwork (see below for rates). At some time, the process will be run from the Member Control Panel. Soon, it will be so you can purchase and manage your ads in full from this dashboard. Until then, please contact me at 734/994-6088 or by email.

 

For people in the business, Robotics Online is the number-one website on industrial robotics technology and generates thousands of advertising clicks every year. According to Google Analytics, some 18,000 “Absolute Unique Visitors” come around each month and do so much they make better than five times their mass in “Pageviews” running toward 98,000 per month. Thanks to search engine optimization, it is common to see member content indexed by Google and served up from Robotics Online in their searches. POP over and see what you get – great things are waiting for you.

 

FYI – Bundle Rates

Bronze Supplier: $1,500 ($2,160 in pieces)

Silver Supplier: $7,900 ($11,420 in pieces)

Gold Supplier: $7,500 ($10,135 in pieces)

Platinum Supplier: $7,300 ($11,535 in pieces)

 

Integrators: $3,910 ($5,535 in pieces)

 

Sincerely,

Brian Huse

Director, Marketing & PR

Robotic Industries Association

900 Victors Way, P.O. Box 3724, Ann Arbor, MI 48106

734/994-6088

bhuse@robotics.org

 

Unauthorized Site Contains Interesting Video from Robots & Vision Show

by Brian Huse, Director, Marketing & PR (RIA)

What would you do if you found an unauthorized Web site about your company’s “family jewels”? I recently bumped into a site that highlights the Association’s International Robots & Vision Show, our biggest and most elaborate event, and was delighted to see it was done in such an interesting manner. Nelson Bridwell came to the 2007 Show and (with permission) shot footage and interviews on the floor. 

It turns out that Mr. Bridwell, 55, used to work for Intel and is now running a startup business called Mirage Robotics in Beaverton, Oregon. After a brief search, I was able to find his number and have a quick conversation to see what makes him tick. 

Nelson Bridwell foresees a day when robotic applications are incorporated into the transportation industry, specifically in ways that are now being explored in DARPA’s Grand Challenge which is a competition for developing autonomous vehicles. He hopes this leads to spin-off technology in the automotive market for the elderly or in the delivery sector. 

An admirer of Joseph F. Engelberger, the “Father of Robotics,” Nelson sites a sentiment he credits to Joe that there is little merit in creating humanoid robots for the sake of an emotional reaction. (This certainly is the kind of thing I’ve heard Joe talk about.) Mr. Bridwell hopes to see more practical applications for non-industrial robots, and feels the biggest bottleneck for progress is software, not hardware. 

It was an interesting few minutes with Nelson. His site is not sanctioned by the Association, but if you want to see it and all the videos and other commentary, go to http://www.mobilerobot.org/RobotsVisionShow/2007.htm.

New Thoughts on Trade Show Co-Locations

By Jeff Burnstein, Executive Vice President, Automation Technologies Council

Trade show co-locations are a hot topic in manufacturing events today.  For-profit trade show producers are putting four and five shows together, guided by the concept that bigger is better.  As a trade association that sponsors trade shows (International Robots & Vision Show and The Vision Show), ATC is constantly assessing its own thoughts on co-locations in our effort to provide the best trade shows possible for attendees and exhibitors alike.

We have tried several approaches in the past (we’ve been the smaller event next to a much larger show, the larger event next to a smaller show, and we’ve also held stand-alone shows).  Each approach has advantages and disadvantages.

And, I’ve recently visited some of the “five shows at one time” events in order to make my own assessment of whether or not these link-ups are truly beneficial.

What I’ve concluded is that putting a bunch of shows together just to have more visitors on the floor isn’t really useful.  In my opinion, one qualified booth visitor is better than ten visitors who stumble across your booth from the next aisle where they were looking at something completely different and have no understanding of or interest in what you’re exhibiting. 

The real power of a co-location is when a visitor can see multiple technologies and products that they are interested in at the same time and place, allowing them to accomplish in one or two days what might normally require several shows or months of research. 

This was very clear to me at the recent International Robots & Vision Show.  Our event was co-located with Sensors Expo, a show smaller than ours but filled with technology that would be of interest to someone looking at robotics, machine vision, and motion control.  Best of all, our event is really a co-location all by itself, with more synergy than ever between the technologies on display.  The motion control pavilion (the first time we’ve had this on our floor) was crowded with interested and knowledgeable visitors.  The sessions on Motion Control (the first time we’ve offered this topic at our conference) were packed.    Vision and robots are being used together now in increasing numbers, a trend that makes the International Robots & Vision Show extremely valuable for manufacturing companies using or considering using these technologies.

Exhibitors located anywhere on our floor knew that they were seeing qualified prospects interested in what they were showing.  There was no need to augment this with “bodies” from co-located events that offered quantity, not quality.    

I contrasted my experience at our show with a recent visit to one of the purported “mega shows” with multiple events.  I was confused walking the floor.  In one aisle I was looking at highly automated equipment for the factory floor and in the next aisle looking at completely unrelated technologies.  Some exhibitors reported that they found little value from many of the visitors stopping by their booth, taking valuable time away from conversations with real prospects.

Sometimes bigger isn’t better and more is less.  We’re keeping this in mind as we plan our future trade show strategy and I imagine all of the exhibitors in our show as well as the attendees will be thinking about this, too, as they make their future trade show plans.

It’s interesting that when we look for information on the internet, we want to drill down as specifically as possible to find exactly what we’re looking for.  The recent trend of putting unrelated trade shows together seems to go in an opposite direction.  It may seem like a good idea on the surface, but in the end, it may best serve the interests of the for-profit trade show producers and their venture capital investors, not the industries we’re working so hard to promote every day at ATC.

That’s my opinion – what’s yours?

Show Packed with Demands and Fun

By Brian Huse, Director, Marketing & PR (RIA) 

Every day of the International Robots & Vision Show was packed with demands and responsibilities, and with only 10 or so of us onsite from the Association for probably 5,000 attendees plus exhibitors, I am afraid I wasn’t able to keep a running diary on this blog. We had a fun time, though, and thank you to everyone who visited, exhibited, spoke and checked in with us. (And if you are reading this, thank you for taking a moment online!)

We won’t have final numbers from the Show for a while, but all signs point toward the best turnout in perhaps a decade. We’ll know better after any duplicates and non-standard records are eliminated from the data, but we can tell that in the first two days the results are up 35% over the same initial data two years ago, which is the last time we held the Show. Conference turnout is up even more, with more than 450 classroom attendees over the four days of sessions.

Our big Gala Dinner was Wednesday, with at least 250 VIPs on hand to celebrate winners of the prestigious Joseph F. Engelberger and Robots & Vision User Recognition Awards. We also had a celebration for Donald A. Vincent, Executive Vice President of Robotic Industries Association, who retires at the end of June.

The Board of Directors and Don’s long-time right-hand man, Jeff Burnstein, paid tribute to our leader, and his whole family was there to mark the occaision. Even Joseph F. Engelberger, who is in his 80’s and unable to travel like he once did, found a way to be there by video. If you haven’t heard, Don has been selected to take over in bestowing the Engelberger awards when Mr. Engelberger himself cannot make it, so the bridge remains strong between the first years of the industry and the latest developments.

It is my honor to be a small part of the record, and I’m sure Jeff and others in the industry will elaborate. This is just a quick recap, and there was so much that happened, I hope to blog about many other things that happened. (For instance, this Show led to my first-ever experience riding a Segway, and the same can be said for many others who were there, plus we had fun with a racetrack near the booth, and the list goes on.)

A new era is opening up for the Association, and it will only get more interesting from here. See you next time!

Android Twin Comes to Life on the Night Before the Show

By Brian Huse, Director, Marketing & PR (RIA) 

Just before stepping up to the keyboard at the Cyber Cafe at the International Robots & Vision Show, I walked past the android “Twin” sitting in a chair at the Xi’an Superman booth. It’s night, and the place is pretty empty, so as you might imagine that adds a surreal quality to the experience.

What you don’t know is how realistic the Twin is. I’ve seen pictures, and maybe you’ve seen them, too, but that is not at all like the actual experience. As I leaned in to check out the whiskers on its face and in its ears, the mole on its forehead and all the other details, I was amazed by the detail (like a figure at Madame Trousseau’s Wax Museum).

Apparently the union guys that unpacked the crate were not quite prepared for what was inside, which (I’m told) led to a funny little incident.

So, tonight the hall is empty and it is fun to let your imagination wander, but tomorrow it will be full and exciting, and the reality of “what can be” is just amazing. 

This is probably the best robot show I’ve been to yet given all the new technology. Each time we do this Show that has been true in one way or another, but now there are two armed industrial robots that have a distinct resemblance to a torso. Machine vision allows industrial robots to be more interactive with the environment. Huge robots more than a story tall can lift whole cars, and small robots are grabbing candy and bolts from random positions. It’s all here, and I am very lucky to see it from the inside. 

Chicago Fox News in the Morning is going to be here in the morning to get footage of the different service robots and industrial arms, so you might get a chance to see that on TV. Other media teams are expected, too, so coverage will be pretty good locally. Maybe nationally if we’re lucky. 

Meanwhile, I am having a terrific time. In fact, as I was typing, Mr. Zou and his daughter, Becco, walked in and I was introduced to the Twin’s creator live and in person. It felt amazing to stand there with him, and even though he doesn’t speak English and I don’t speak Chinese, it was a very warm and genuine moment. I’ll tell this story many times in my life, I am quite sure.  

I’ll try to keep you posted on the Show, so stay tuned to this blog. I’ll be at booth 1771, so look me up and let me know if you saw this little posting online. Or leave a message below. Either way, in the words of the rock group, Saliva: Ladies and Gentlemen … welcome to the show! (I hope you can be here – it’s going to be great!)

Exciting Secrets and Good Times at Robots & Vision Show

We can’t wait to see everyone at the International Robots & Vision Show. I’ve never seen quite so much excitement built into this event, and soon we’ll be in the middle of a whirlwind of activity with lots of exhibitors, a good crowd and plenty of action.

Our biggest and worst kept secret is that Don Vincent, who has been Executive Vice President of RIA since 1983 (and helped found it in 1974) will be honored at the Gala Awards Dinner on Wednesday. He retires at the end of the month, so you can imagine how huge this is for all of us. But unless you go and see for yourself, you’ll have to wait for me to blog about everything that happens. (You can still get tickets online or at the Show.)

One thing that is not a secret is how this Show pulls together friends and business associates who, like Don, are great sources of knowledge and expertise about technology that has been around for only a few decades. (We often tag the launch of the industry to 1961 when Joseph F. Engelberger sold the first industrial robot to General Motors.)

This is a tight industry, and if you use the Association you will meet some of the most interesting and amazing people. Events like this Show and our many regional events are incredibly valuable networking opportunities where you make friends, learn about new technology and discover new ways to make it work for you. In fact, as a token of our appreciation for your time at the Show, we have some great membership offers for first-timers (full details are at our booth – 1771).

It’s great if you can come see us, and sometimes I have the good fortune of seeing RIA members with little trips to their facilities. I just found this picture from February 29 when I went across Michigan to visit Dane Systems, an RIA member for eight years. It was 20 degrees Fahrenheit and the snow was piling up near Lake Michigan when I stopped there. I got to see first hand several systems they had going – they do such a great job of making small enclosures packed with equipment, I was really impressed! Dane has served the automotive market for years, and says they have seen more and more demand for robots over the last two years. Be sure to see them at booth 2014 in the Robotics Integrator Pavilion, where they might treat you to lunch or you could win an iPod (click here to see their special offer to Show attendees).

On that same snowy trip in January, I saw Dick Hewitt at Hammond Machinery, who along with Skip Erlbacher of Pushcorp and John Barry of 3M, are helping to plan the Robotic Grinding, Deburring & Finishing Workshop which is September 17-19, 2007, in Minneapolis, MN. If you are interested in this event, please see me at booth 1771.

Our National Robot Safety Conference is gearing up for October 1-4 in Indianapolis, Indiana, so if your are interested in that event, stop by and talk with me or Jim Adams in booth 1771, or see Jeff Fryman at Robot Safety booth 1854.

For association news on motion control and machine vision, look for Dana Whalls either at booth 1771 or in the Motion Control Pavilion.

You can do a lot of business at the International Robots & Vision Show, and you can have a lot of fun, too. It’s worth it to make connections with experts and people that can help your business and your career. I know the Association staff is excited to be there for you and for all the big milestones this Show represents. This Show is only every two years, so please come if you can!

International Robots & Vision Show Segways Into New Era

by Brian Huse, Director, Marketing & PR, RIA 

If you haven’t heard yet, the Keys to Success Sweepstakes Grand Prize is a Segway at the International Robots & Vision Show. We’ll even cover the first $500 in shipping – that’s practically to the moon. You can win other prizes, too, including some “nitro” gas powered RC Cars, a TomTom ONE GPS navigational unit for your car or bike, and even a Guitar Hero / Playstation 2 game pack (includes the Playstation).

We’ve got games and more prizes, and the Show will be a pretty fun place to be, plus the exhibitors are getting into it. Some are doing hands-on demonstrations for the Hands-On Highway, and others are announcing new products, and they all are bringing out their best stuff. Robots and vision products are absolutely amazing these days.

What you see at this Show is approaching the cool factor you hear about at the Consumer Electronics Show. We even have a hard charging act out of Asia, where a robot “Twin” will make his big debut outside of China. ABC in Chicago wanted to do an in-studio interview with our new friend, Mr. Zou and his android double, but the pair are landing in the U.S. barely in time for the Show after a long struggle for a visa.

Meanwhile, everyone at the office is going full bore to get ready for this Show and Conference. Dana Whalls is heading up the Conference and arranging onsite details. Jim Adams is coordinating a Career Center jobs board for our booth and generating important PR – plus he got us the cool NASCAR track with remote control cars. Sarah Le Couffe is handling everything for registration and loose ends all over the place for the Show and Conference.

Here’s a little tidbit few others know: Saroj Motwani, our Member Services Administrator, is expecting her first baby on June 24 and is not going to the Show. We probably should have tried to sell a sponsorship for that. (Tune in later when we all find out her baby’s name and preference for pink or blue.)

There are so many unsung heroes at work to make this Show and Conference a success. Arika Iles handles millions of details and is pulling together a terrific bookstore where you can visit her. Sharon Adams, who remembers more Shows than most of us, makes sure all the bills get paid and will step in for Saroj when the time comes.

Jeff and Don, who have guided the Association for years, are masters of the big picture, and will paint a new scene at the end of June that has Don riding off into the sunset while Jeff gathers up the reins and takes us to new destinations.

Whatever course we chart, you’ll hear about it on the ‘Net, and that wouldn’t be possible without Carrie Warolin and Suzanne Worsham, our Webmasters and designers of all things online (and sometimes in print).

As for me, I send out a lot of messages and get a chance to work with a lot of truly good and remarkable people in the industry as I take care of marketing and PR issues for the Show.

When I started with RIA more than 10 years ago, one of the first things I learned is that robot safety is a hallmark of the industry and the Association. We owe a lot of that to Jeff Fryman, who will be at the Show and Conference helping spread the word about important standards and safety issues.

Paul Kellett, of Kellett’s Corner, is another secret to our success, and he oversees studies and gathers facts and figures to help you interpret trends and situations in our industries.

One fact you can’t ignore is this is our last International Robots & Vision Show with Don Vincent as Executive Vice President and, who along with his wife Kelley, are the most liked people I know. You may have seen or heard about his tribute at the Robotics Industry Forum, where one person after another stood up and emphasized how nice Don is when they spoke about him. And everyone included Kelley in their comments – she is admired by all and as wonderful as they come.

It’s a big year for us. One of change, yet stability. A strong Show on the rise, and prospects for even more success. Technology that is blurring the lines between industrial and service applications. It’s a good time to be part of the Association. Please join us as we move into a new era. See you at the Show..!

Fun & Prizes at Robots & Vision Show Booth 1771

Posted by Brian Huse, Director, Marketing & PR, May 24, 2007

If you are reading this, you get a scoop on some prizes we’ll give away at the International Robots & Vision Show, June 12-14, 2007. I went to Best Buy recently and purchased Guitar Hero 2 (game and controller) and Test Drive Unlimited for PlayStation 2. Oh, yeah. I got a PlayStation 2 console, too. (Wii was sold out, as usual!)

I also ordered six radio-controlled cars (the kind you put fuel into and as soon as you fire it up, all the neighbor kids come running). Plus there is a TomTom GPS navigation system in the mix, and we’ll have gift cards for gas so you can fuel up your family car.

Plus we have three video iPods for the Show & Go Giveaway. Then there’s the grand prize, but I’ll blog about that later.

All of the action will be at booth 1771, where we also have a NASCAR racetrack with cars you can race from remote control steering wheels. All three sponsors of the Show, RIA, AIA and MCA, will be at the booth, and we want it to be a place where you can go and have fun, plus learn more about how Association membership drives your success.

See you at the Show!

(Click here for a thread of previous posts about the Show.)

International Robots & Vision Show Site Huge Success with 4 Weeks to Go!

By Brian Huse, Director, Marketing & PR (RIA)
Posted May 14, 2007

As the name, International Robots & Vision Show says: this is more than a regional event. Outside the U.S., the top 10 countries sending visitors to the Show Web site are…
1. Canada
2. United Kingdom
3. Japan
4. France
5. Korea, Republic of
6. India
7. China
8. Sweden
9. Singapore
10. Spain

More than 10 other countries, starting with Mexico and Brazil, are on the list, and with nearly 31,000 visitors in April, the site has been extremely active.

Visitors are checking out the agenda page and registration page the most (and of course the Home page). There were two advertisers in April, with 120 and 236 clicks respectively. Additionally, the Hands-On Highway page is in the top 10 for “paths through the site.”

When the new Show site was launched, it scored a Google PageRank of five, which is impressive for a new site. It now has a PageRank of six, which is considered good – in fact I’ve noticed that few Web sites in the industry exceed that.

This and many other pieces of evidence point toward the most successful International Robots & Vision Show in years (pre-registration is up quite a bit, and Conference registration is smashing previous records).

Robots & Vision Show Update: Promotional Activities

Promotions are well under way for the Robots & Vision Show, June 12-14, 2007. The audience is comprised of some 500,000 industry prospects from various magazines, Web sites and house lists. The new Show site went live February 23, and ad insertions are already in March trade magazines. Internet marketing is in gear, and we are developing the official Show Directory with Assembly magazine. Here are some highlights: 

Print Ads

• Assembly magazine (March, April)
• Photonics Spectra (March, April, May*)
• Quality magazine (March, April)
• Test & Measurement World (April, May)
• Vision Systems Design (March, April)
• Imaging & Machine Vision Europe (April)
• Automotive Design & Production (April)
• Motion System Design (April)
• Advanced Imaging (April)
• Automation World (April*)

* Asterisk indicates ½-page, four-color ad. Publications in red were added as of March 14, 2007.

Online Ads & Insertions

Several electronic insertions are pending for sites from the above list of trade journals and other publications. You’ll find an editorial placement we arranged in the latest Assembly magazine newsletter (click here).

E-mail Blasts

RIA’s twice-monthly newsletter to more than 20,000 subscribers has included updates for several issues, and targeted blasts to promote the Show will be a monthly occurrence between now and June. A combination of house lists and rented lists means nearly 400,000 e-mails will be broadcast during this period (maybe more).

List Rentals and Target Audiences

About 20 sources will be utilized for target lists. In the example of Assembly magazine, 24,000 subscirbers will receive advance copies of the Show Directory with their May issue. A more detailed accounting will be available soon.

New & Other Business

RIA Integrator member benefits have been expanded to include tabletops at the Show. An e-mail blast on this matter went out today to current and potential members in this category. We continue to take applications for the Hands-on Highway and in some cases, we will still consider speaker abstracts (contact Jeff Burnstein at jburnstein@robotics.com for these details).

– posted by Brian Huse (bhuse@robotics.org, 734/994-6088)