Three weeks ago, Flash Photonics exhibited at SciX 2018 in Atlanta, Georgia. Scientists and engineers from our partner companies including Timegate, SPECTRAL Industries, MarqMetrix, Custom Sensors & Technology, and AtomTrace flew across the globe to join us.

Attending, exhibiting at, and speaking at a convention costs time and resources. Since information can be easily shared online and more purchases than ever are being made online today, do you think conventions are still worth attending?

We believe face-to-face time is still incredibly valuable in this industry.

Purchasing optical sensing systems and instruments is very different than purchasing a consumer product like a car. Not too many of our large, optical sensing systems are available to see or test drive in your hometown. Some of our products are complex enough that it typically takes several conversations to discover whether or not the product would be the best fit for a particular project. Some of our instruments are so new, you will not find any information outside of our website, let alone any online reviews.

Conventions can help that one researcher or engineer find that unicorn product solution they have spent months looking for. The researcher has all their questions ready to roll. The vendor with their product has all their answers and counter-questions ready to roll. Sometimes a demo, which might be the only one of its kind available in the world, is available at a convention to see and touch.

Often a scientist’s or engineer’s problem is so novel, they do not even know where to start looking. Conventions speed up their search. I saw a researcher immediately march to a partner’s table, after a scientist from that partner company gave a talk about his research. Their instrument was exactly the kind of instrument they were looking for, although the researcher may not have even heard of the instrument before the talk.

Customers have walked up to our booth, challenging us: “I have done research and so I am pretty sure the exact instrument I need does not exist yet. Do you know how I can make a measurement of A considering factors B and C?” I watched the gears in Director of Sales, Kevin Kaye’s head turn for a minute or so when asked this question. He tilted his head left and right and said, “If you combine X with Y, and then use product Z, you should be able to get pretty damn close, if not exactly, what you’re looking for!” If we did not have the right product, our team was not afraid to point a customer to another company that did.

Flash Photonics’ strength lies in its people. Buckley, Kaye, and Smith each have about 20 years of experience in the industry under their belts. They know what questions to ask and where to find the right answers. Flash’s partners who have built their systems and instruments know their system’s and instrument’s advantages, potentials, and limitations inside and out. It is very rare that everyone is together in the same twenty foot by twenty foot area, able to throw a customer’s questions, answers, and ideas back and forth so quickly. This is the value in finding us at a convention.

If you were not able to attend SciX, have no fear! Feel free to email us at [email protected] if you have an optical sensing question for your project. Also, please sign up for our mailing list to be the first to find out which conventions we plan to attend in 2019.