Casual EMC

This year’s IEEE EMC Symposium, held in Honolulu, surely set a record for most casually dressed of any conference I’ve attended. Hawaiian shirts were everywhere, especially in the AR booth, where everyone wore the company colors (see photo). Shorts were not uncommon, either. Sure, there are a few people in suits, but far fewer that usual.

The Symposium as been in places warmer that Honolulu such as Austin where it was held in 1997 and returns in 2009. Yet, I doubt there will be as many engineers in shorts and far fewer in Hawaiian shirts two years from now. Having been to the Austin Convention Center (the 2009 site) several times, I can tell you that you may need a jacket because they crank up the air conditioning in Texas.

I’m sure there was a time when most conference attendees wore ties. Those days are gone and need not return. It’s the quality of the technical papers, workshops, and tutorials that counts in a conference.