I’m a little late with my CeBIT report because I had a lot to do with my thesis and some other projects …simply too much. But better late than never.
As mentioned before, I had the honor to present my master thesis and another project I worked in (Smart Home Control) at the CeBIT in Hanover.
Arrival:
As the CeBIT opened its doors on Tuesday, we arrived on Monday afternoon, to set up our exhibits. What surprised me most was the presence of security measures that existed on the site … there were no. Without authentication, we strolled with our computers and other utensils to our hall and snatched up already one or two interesting insight into some buildings, where it looked more like a dump than an exhibition.
After a short walk we took our stand. Although everything looked like it was built only a few hours ago and was put down, but even so there was enough time to remove the protective film and unsightly places by building staff.
Since we only had to set up our computers, and a model house, all the work was done but in a few hours and we could call it a day early.
Trade Days:
The first four days of CeBIT, Tuesday through Friday, were as every year the trade visitors days and it was not surprising that the Hessian Broadcasting and other media outlets came on the first day to our booth to look around and take an interview about our developments in the field of home automation. (Video in german)
One lesson I’ve learned over the week is that you need in any case a eye catcher to attract the audience. While we had a model house with light and water effects at the Smart Home project I missed programming a nice stand-alone minigame in the preparation phase. So I extracted a minigame from my “Braincademy”-Application. In the end of the first Day i had a simple mini-game where the player had to catch falling diamonds with his hands.
Although I made some videos of playing guests but due to german law I’m not allowed to publish them without the approval of the people in the video.
Visitor Day:
Saturday was free for all visitors, and so there were a lot of people who simply wanted to get a free stuff.
During the week many visitors asked how the projects were implemented and whether they would buy it, the main issues that day were: “Have you anything here to give away?” or “Can I take this for free? *pointing at my MacBook*”.
Therefore, the the best choice was to run the eye catcher and make pictures and videos of the visitors. (Here are a few insights)
Conclusion:
All in all it was an interesting experience, even though I my feet ached for next three days after the event.
At least I could walk off with the big poster of my project, which now adorns my wall.
Download:
And finally, for those who demand more information on the two exhibits the Flyers: (mainly german, but with an english explanation in the bottom)
