On Flying, Finding and the Trade Show Floor
Somewhere between the badge scanner beep and missing business cards, community happens.
I’ve been reading to my son before bed lately. And now that we’ve (mercifully) graduated from the picture book phase, I did what any overexcited parent with a bookshelf full of “classics” would do: I went straight for the big ones. Peter Pan. Alice in Wonderland. The Secret Garden.
I quickly realized, somewhere around my third dramatic reading of a particularly dense sentence, that perhaps I was a little too eager. I was narrating stories with words he wasn’t quite ready for yet, piling on adventures that made more sense to me than to him.
But then, tucked between J. M. Barrie’s whimsy and flights of fancy in Peter Pan, I stumbled on a line that made me pause: “It is not in doing what you like, but in liking what you do that is the secret of happiness.”
As he drifted off to sleep, I sat there with that sentence for a minute. Because really – isn’t that the undercurrent of why so many of us show up to places like PCB West and PCB East? We like what we do. We like being surrounded by others who like it too.
The Hum on the Floor
Trade shows have a particular sound to them. It’s somewhere between the buzz of conversations layered over the click of badge scanners, punctuated by a few bursts of laughter and the occasional, “Hey, I know you from LinkedIn.”
When I walked into PCB West in October, I wasn’t the total newcomer I’d been at PCB East earlier this year. I had a sharper sense of where the real conversations happen – and how, by the end of the week, I’d probably be down one notebook, two pens and a whole stack of business cards I swore I packed. (Seriously. Where do they all go?)
Figure 1.A packed show floor at PCB West 2025 brought together over 1,300 industry professionals and 100-plus exhibitors.
More than 1,300 engineers, designers, fabricators and assemblers filled the Santa Clara Convention Center. Over 100 companies showcased solutions spanning everything from aerospace reliability to IoT innovation. But what stays with me long after the booths come down isn’t the product literature or the floor map – it’s the conversations. The nods of recognition. The sense of being in a place where everyone understands, in some way, what keeps you up at night.
Shared Struggles, Shared Solutions
Greg Papandrew, cofounder, DirectPCB
“If you want to stay abreast of what's going on in the industry – you have to come to shows,” Greg Papandrew, cofounder of DirectPCB, told me. And he’s right. Trade shows are more than places to find answers; they’re places to realize how many people are asking the same questions you are.
Papandrew spoke of how he learns something new at every event. But what stood out most to me wasn’t the learning itself, it was how that learning happens together. It’s in the hallway chats, the quick booth demos, the offhand “Yeah, we’ve run into that too.” challenges can feel heavy alone, but when a few dozen people nod in recognition, they start to feel a little lighter. That’s the quiet glue of community.
The Network That Lasts Beyond the Show
Carrie Guenther, sales and marketing manager, RBB
Carrie Guenther of RBB put it best: “Prospective client introductions are just one benefit of exhibiting at a trade show. While that is the most immediate payoff, trade shows are also the best way to grow your connections in the industry. This is so valuable. You get to know others who are friendly competitors, future suppliers and industry leaders…. These connections can grow into friendships and mentors. People you look forward to seeing again.”
That line stuck with me: People you look forward to seeing again.
Because that’s what it felt like walking into PCB West this time. I wasn’t just shaking hands with strangers. I was seeing faces I recognized from East. I was swapping updates. I was learning how their challenges had evolved – and how mine had too.
Guenther also mentioned how trade shows build brand awareness – not in the loud, billboard sense, but in the steady way your name sticks in someone’s head when their next challenge comes around. It’s long game marketing, but it’s also relationship-building at its best.
Why We Keep Coming Back
Juan C. Frias, PC board designer, Rivian
“Why do I like PCB West?” Juan C. Frias laughed when I cornered him at the PCEA booth, notebook in hand and pen poised like a threat. He humored me anyway.
“I meet a lot of people here. I learn a lot of things. And there’s always something new for me.”
Simple. Real. And honestly? That’s it.
Trade shows are a collision of problems and solutions, of old friends and new faces, of the things we know and the things we’re about to learn.
As much as they’re a professional investment, they’re also a reminder that none of us is in this industry alone.
The Moment Before the Leap
When I walked out of PCB West this year, I had sore feet, a half-filled bag of swag and a head full of conversations. I also had perspective – the kind that only comes from being in the same room as people who understand the work and care about it as much as you do.
And maybe that’s why this second line from Barrie feels like the right place to end: “The moment you doubt whether you can fly, you cease forever to be able to do it.”
Trade shows remind us of that moment before the leap, where we look around, see others taking flight and believe we can too.
is managing editor of PCD&F/Circuits Assembly; ryann@pcea.net.
