Evan on Engineering Software

About seven years ago, I was driving Joel Orr to the airport in Chicago, and we were talking about how it would be really interesting to have an industry conference where more focus was given to the "conversations in the hallway" than to vendor presentations.  Joel called our mutual friend, Brad Holtz, and asked him what he thought of that idea.  Brad thought it was a wonderful idea -- and so the three of us started a company, and set about creating just such a conference.

This Thursday marks the beginning of the seventh annual COFES: Congress on the Future of Engineering Software, in Scottsdale, Arizona.

COFES is a small event, and has always had an intimate quality.  Yet, the brain-power and influence of people that attend COFES has always blown me away.  In the past, I used to be the "behind the scenes" guy -- doing whatever was necessary to help pull off the event, even if it meant printing posters, running a sound board, or driving a moving van.  For the last couple of years, I've had the pleasure of just being an attendee -- and getting to spend my time listening to, and talking with, a bunch of brilliant people.