SID 2006 Sets Records and We've Got It Covered

As the summer starts to wind down for many of us, it is time for the annual SID Review/Industry Directory issue. If you were at the 2006 SID Symposium, Seminar, and Exhibition, then you know how difficult it was to see everything. More than 8500 people attended SID 2006, the most in the history of SID. (Our previous record of slightly over 7900 was set in 2001 in San Jose, California, and we saw a 12% increase in attendance over SID 2005 in Boston.) There is no question part of the increase was due to the outstanding quality of this year's papers (more than 750 were received by the program committee for consideration), but also due to the record 300 companies showcasing their wares in more than 58,000 sq. ft. of exhibit space. Also, the fairly new SID Investors Conference was expanded to two days and broke its own attendance record as well.

To cover this overwhelming event, we recruited a team of well-known industry experts and published their reports on four major categories in this issue. Each of our four lead reporters, Alan Sobel, Peter Smith, Carl Cobb, and Paul Drzaic, have decades of experience in the display industry and are particularly versed in their subject area. We also had the full editorial staff of ID Magazine and countless other helpful sources working the stories for you. By taking this approach, we believe that we have presented the most interesting perspectives and the most unbiased reviews of anyone covering the show. Hopefully, this compilation of highlights will be a valuable reference source for the remainder of the year and spark ideas to help with your work and business.

Similarly, our Industry Directory is a widely anticipated annual data source. This directory brings you the most complete listing of active display-industry companies anywhere and has been invaluable to me over the years in finding sources and solutions for problems in my work.

One of the valuable services ID magazine provides to the industry beyond our monthly feature articles is the chance for companies to advertise their goods and services to our readers. Our monthly portfolio of advertisers is like an industry directory each month. While the faces change somewhat based on the themes of the issues, only here can you find a focused array of companies positioned to serve and support the display industry. Also, it is because of the generous support of these advertisers that we can publish IDmagazine. So, I hope you will give your consideration and business support to the companies listed in our directory and to those who advertise in our pages each month.

I also want to call your attention to our Industry News section, which has been a development effort for us this year. Our editorial assistant, Jessica Quandt, has been learning much about our industry and is showing her skills at getting inside and behind the stories we cover each month. We try to pick the top three or four news items from around the industry and present them to you with a bit more perspective and depth than basic news releases. All three of our items this month represent this effort well and I am pleased with where we are going with this feature.

Next month we return with our regular features, and the theme will be Large-Area Displays. We have a great lineup of feature articles and departments, including the first of a two-part series on Expanded-Color-Gamut Technology for Displays by industry veteran Matthew S. Brennesholtz, and a great in-depth review of the state of the art in tiling technology by SID past-president Tony Lowe.

As always, we welcome your feedback and encourage you to write to us with article ideas. You can reach us at press@pcm411.com.

– Stephen P. Atwood