Issue link: https://iconnect007.uberflip.com/i/1355791
44 I-CONNECT007 I REAL TIME WITH... IPC APEX EXPO 2021 SHOW & TELL MAGAZINE An IPC APEX EXPO Like No Other Comes to a Close... and Opens On Demand by Barry Matties, I-CONNECT007 e online live IPC APEX Expo has closed, and the on-demand content will carry on until June 2021. ere is no real substitute for the in-person trade show, we all know that. e metrics we use for the virtual trade show will not be the same measure as the in-person event, nor should they be. e two events are very differ- ent. All that said, it still requires an enormous amount of effort to put together a meaningful online virtual event and our congratulations go to the entire IPC team for making IPC APEX EXPO 2021 the best it could be. It's not to say everything went perfectly but the IPC team was there working long hours to make it a meaningful event. e success of an event comes from all the people who volunteer their time to organize, support, and take part in the educational programs and meetings. People from all around the world took part in sharing their thoughts, expertise, and commitment to our industry. And for the attendees, there were several opportunities to take part in man- agement meetings, technical conferences, professional development, keynotes, and more. As we jumped from one virtual room to the next, there was a lot of thoughtful informa- tion being presented, including exhibitor new product presentations. It was also great to see so many emerging engineers taking part in the event. I espe- cially appreciated the great education initia- tives update session from Charlene Gunter du Plessis, senior director, IPC Education Foun- dation, and Aaron Birney, program manager, IPC Education Foundation. eir work is vital to the future as they are reaching out to the upcoming talent for our industry. During the session, the results from the 2020 strategy was shared (Figure 1). A very impressive report and this is an effort that is worth supporting. Charlene Gunter du Plessis and Aaron Birney. Figure 1: Results from the 2020 IPCEF strategy.