where {not} to stay in san fran

 

During the week of Semicon especially, all hotels in San Francisco are basically booked, as well as the hotels hike up the price per night. I found this hotel that was close to Moscone and had the cheapest price. After all, I was only going to be there to shower and sleep right?

The Hotel Bijou is "Inspired by nostalgic, movie palace stylings, the Hotel Bijou celebrates San Francisco's rich cinematic history." The entire hotel is decorated with movie "theater-like" decorations. They even have a small little movie theater where they show two movies every night. Cute idea, yes but did they have proper accommodation? Nope. After setting up the booth all Monday morning I took a shower before heading out to the British Consulate {previous post} I took a shower. Nothing special but it did the job. Tuesday morning came and I tried to shower... no hot water. Called down to the front and they said something had happened and they were calling someone in to fix it. Fine, no problem quick cold shower it is. Come Tuesday night, I took a hot shower {assumed problem had been fixed} Wednesday & Thursday morning... cold, cold, cold showers! I complained everytime I saw someone in the office. They said to me that it "just happens" and that the hot water can run out in the morning. Ridiculous. Then come check out time, they only offered about a 15% discount on the room. It was just so frustrating that they knew about this issue and couldn't get it fixed. We stay in hotels for two reasons; the bed and the shower? Where do you expect me to go shower when I am staying up here for 4 days. One thing is for sure, I will not be coming back to this hotel.

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booth #1030

 

This is our amazing booth that was located in the South Hall of Moscone. We had a great location that produced a lot of visitor traffic and enabled our team to interact with the many visitors and other exhibitors.

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SEMICON West 2011

 

Welcome to SEMICON West!

My company's booth was located in the South Hall so that is where these pictures are from. Semicon is a three day long tradeshow every July, located in San Francisco's Moscone Center. As described on their website; "SEMICON West exhibitors are the suppliers to and partners of the world's leading microelectronics companies. From silicon to system—and everything in between and beyond—SEMICON West showcases the world's biggest and brightest names in microelectronics manufacturing."

It is a great opportunity for exhibitors to meet with their current or old clients and reconnect. It is also a great place to be introduced to new faces and potential customers to help your business grow and develop. There were also quite a few dad's who brought their sons to help encourage and get them excited about the Semiconductor business; as well as students who are studying engineering. This experience gave them the chance to see what kind of companies and opportunities there after post college graduation.

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pre-semicon, the british consulate

 

Before Semicon officially began, the UKTI (United Kingdom Trade Investment) put on an event the Monday evening at the British Consulate to help support growing businesses that are coming out of the UK. There were about 50 attendees there that were all there looking to mingle and network. A majority of the people already knew each other but it's always nice to meet some new faces before a big show.

Many companies like to host events, happy hours, or dinners after the show in order to get some more interaction and one on one time with people in the industry. I was able to attend a couple events on Tuesday night, which allowed me to connect and meet some new people.

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