Our colleague and frequent contributor to this space, Wes Bates, recently changed industries and found himself at his new industry’s key trade show. He filed this report for us. Thanks, Wes.
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It has been a while since my last trade show- one year and nine months to be exact-and I am glad to get back in the swing of things by attending a new show with a new company.
My new company and new industry path has lead me to the LTE North America show at the Fairmont Hotel here in Dallas, Texas- or as I like to call it, “The Big D.” I attended this show to promote my organization’s wireless network solutions through social media efforts with our twitter program while conducting interviews of visiting media and analysts.
This two-day event is considered the largest dedicated LTE event in North America. For those of you who are not familiar with the technical aspects of LTE and have only heard this term in Verizon commercials, it stands for Long-term Evolution. PC Magazine defines it as a 4G technology, surpassing the speeds of the widely used 3G networks. Available for the two major cell phone systems worldwide (GSM and CDMA), LTE is envisioned to provide global interoperability. However, LTE operates in more than three dozen frequency bands, making it difficult to build a phone that can tune in that many channels. This is where your wireless service provider comes into the mix discussing best practices and challenges to provide coverage and capacity for their customers.
The target audience for this show is regional carriers looking to search for potential partners and learn from the market leaders about their deployment experiences. Several high-level executives from the top players in wireless and mobile marketing attended: AT&T, T-Mobile, Sprint, Verizon, and Metro PCS.
According to the show promoters, LTE North America has firmly established itself as the ultimate “learning conference” of the region, bringing together the leaders of the entire LTE ecosystem for unparalleled breadth and depth of discussion around the future of mobile broadband.
This show is in its fifth year and boasts 1000+ high-level attendees, 150+ distinguished speakers and 75+ exhibitors and meeting rooms. The overall attendance, of just over 1000, is fairly small by most trade show standards but this event is only one leg of six events held around the world culminating with the LTE World Summit taking place June 24-26, 2013 in Amsterdam, RAI, Netherlands.
These events are short-lived and packed with a lot of valuable thought-leader panel presentations. If you plan to attend one of the shows, be sure to pick your conference tracks ahead of time and carefully as the show guide can be a little confusing with its layout. After speaking with several attendees, I got the feeling this show has a lot to offer and look for it to continue providing more and more information. It has only been five years since the first LTE North America show and I believe the ever-expanding wireless industry will only have a positive impact on the growth of shows like this. The 2013 LTE event will be back in Big D at the West Galleria on November 20-21. Book your travel soon.
I would like to say that I appreciate all the support I received during my time away from trade shows while searching for my next placement and I am very happy to have the opportunity to return to the show floor. Look for my next report coming February, 2013.
Follow Wes on twitter: www.twitter.com/WesBates
About Wesley: Wesley Bates is the corporate communications manager for the leading global provider of essential infrastructure solutions for wireless, business enterprise and residential broadband networks. His duties include media and analyst relations. He graduated from Texas A&M University and then worked with the St. Joseph Health System in Bryan, Texas Health Resources in Arlington, and Fujitsu America before taking his current position. He served for three years on the board with the Dallas chapter of IABC.
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Reports like Wes’ are a staple of this space and posted as a way to share fresh perspectives and ideas on a variety of industries and topics. Contact me should you want to contribute or explore options.
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