Issue link: https://iconnect007.uberflip.com/i/1091269
68 PCB007 MAGAZINE I MARCH 2019 I attended IPC APEX EXPO this year deter- mined to find an answer to a question that I had been asked and couldn't answer, even af- ter some fairly extensive internet searching. So where did I go for answers when the internet wasn't helpful? With thousands of people in attendance, I couldn't imagine a better place to search for PCB information. Knowing that I had three days to find the information I was looking for, I started with the shotgun ap- proach. I walked up and down the aisles, kept an eye out for related items, and asked ques- tions when something caught my eye. After realizing this probably wasn't the most efficient way to look for the information, I turned to the IPC APEX EXPO 2019 app on my smartphone and the hard copy of the show guide. This helped narrow my search, and I went off to investigate. While I did learn a few new things in this investigation, I didn't find the answer to my initial question while walk- ing the expo aisles. Thankfully, as I stopped to talk to a long-time industry friend and men- tioned this search, he referred me to someone who had the answer I needed. We live in a connected world. Our smart- phones connect to our cars, music speakers, household lighting, and appliances, and there is a full issue of this magazine dedicated to con- nected factories. Information is collected at an astonishing rate, and people are working dili- gently to put this information to good use. It is new, fun, and exciting. So many industries are exploding with applications, such as home appliances, medical applications, agriculture, energy management, retail, and the list goes on. I sometimes wonder what is going to happen to the good, "old-fashioned" networking. You know, not networked devices, but the act of going out and meeting people in our industry, learning about their story and expertise, and sharing yours—mutually beneficial sharing of information and resources. Seeing a long-time industry friend at IPC APEX EXPO 2019 cer- tainly helped me answer the question I was looking for. Old-fashioned Networking Flex Talk by Tara Dunn, OMNI PCB