As expected, attendance is very sparse at the conference. In most of the small booths here, the majority of which seem to be 10 x 10, the vendor representatives are just standing or sitting around talking with each other. It's not that they're being rude; especially during the conference sessions there's just no one else around.

This is not a sign of the industry. It's not a sign of the care with which the conference organizers planned both the expo and the sessions, nor of the efforts they took to market the event. No, this is truly a sign of the economic times.

According to one vendor, the economic situation has changed drastically from just a mere month ago. At Graph Expo in Chicago, she observed, people were ready and authorized to spend. Now, technology evaluators at the show--those few who are here--seem to be saying that spending is on hold. Yes, they've been able to come to the conference to learn, but no, they won't likely be buying anything till well into 2009.

One XUG member with whom I correspond frequently, and who is based in the LA area, wrote me this afternoon that there was no way his company was going to spend a thousand bucks to have him attend a conference as they had in the past--not in this economic climate.

So, if buying isn't on the table, so to speak, then what's going on at the educational sessions? I have to tell you that I'm much more interested in tomorrow's sessions than in those going on today. I'm especially interested in the two being led tomorrow by XUG members.

Today I sat in on a routine DAM pep talk by consultant Michael Moon. Session wrap-up: When trying to decide what to do, go with your gut. Listen when something inside you says, "That's cool...that's cool!" So, readers, don't forget to include that in your evaluation report when your boss wants to know why you really, really want her to approve a million-dollar expenditure to take the company in that particular direction.

There seem to be a couple of decent sessions on today's late afternoon agenda. I'll sit in on those and see what's going on. Again, I expect much more relevant substance tomorrow.

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