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22 The PCB Design Magazine • July 2017 Beaulieu: You told me you were part of the Il- linois Delegation; can you talk about that? Vardya: Of course. We were part of the State of Illinois delegation and worked closely with the Illinois Department of Commerce & Economic Opportunity's Office of Trade & Investment. Seven companies in the Illinois booth spanned a variety of industries supporting the aerospace industry. The Rockford Area Aerospace Network (RAAN), which ASC is also a member of, was also represented in our booth. Beaulieu: Did you manage to get some leads from people stopping by your booth? Vardya: The thing that is different about this show is that you cannot count on gaining leads via people stopping by your booth. You really need to do prep work to set up meetings ahead of time. You also need to walk the show and find additional leads. The show is large and it is not possible to walk all the halls unless you have many people that go with you. Strategic targeting becomes important. You must plan your time carefully by making appointments ahead of time. You cannot count on just meeting people randomly and striking up a beneficial business conversa- tion. You must intentionally plan every minute of your time there. Beaulieu: Did you attend many events and talks as well? Vardya: Yes, I was with our VP of Business Devel- opment and our rigid-flex expert Dave Lackey, and together we had the opportunity to attend a number of networking events in the evenings. This is an important part of the Paris Air Show experience, but it makes for a very long day. Beaulieu: I'll bet there were many cool things to see as well. Vardya: That's the fun of attending the show. There are always talks and conferences going on throughout the four days on a variety of aerospace topics. In addition, the fun part of the show is to watch the various planes THE INTERNATIONAL PARIS AIR SHOW WITH ASC'S ANAYA VARDYA Beaulieu: So, I would assume that the United States is well represented. Vardya: Absolutely, the USA pavilion houses most of the US companies. More than 300 US companies were at the show and 2,000 compa- nies were at the show, overall.