The Analog Aficionado Party

I received a nice note from Paul Rako regarding the Analog Aficionado party that he helps arrange every year around this time. What follows is his note; then the press release. Everything you need to know is here:

OK, analog lovers. The Analog Aficionado party is less than two weeks away, the Saturday before ISSCC:

Saturday, February 16, 5:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m.
David's Restaurant
5151 Stars and Stripes Dr, Santa Clara, Calif., 95054
(408) 986-1666

Texas Instruments has signed on as a sponsor once again, and so has Analog Devices. The Multisim folks from National Instruments are sending a representative and they offered to chip in if we run out of dessert.

Power supply company founder Bob Boschert is coming, as is Bob Pease's widow Nancy and son Ben. Robbie Shergill and Nick Gray are coming. Jeff Keyzer is coming in from Seattle. Scott Wurcer is flying in from Boston. I told authors Sergio Franco and Ron Quan to bring a few books to sell. Media legend Dave Bursky is attending, as is Steve Ohr. Several PR people are coming. Mark Alden and Gayle Bullock from TI. Ron Wilson, my former boss at EDN magazine, and his wife Donna. I am asking some fine folks from Maxim as well as my friend Doug Dickinson from Linear Tech.

We will have more food this year and I think I can spring for iced tea and soft drinks. I figure to get some food out early, 5:30 p.m., so feel free to pop in early and leave early if you have other obligations. The party shuts down at 9:00 p.m., so there is still plenty of time to go clubbing and hit the raves.

Bring your gizmos and curiosities. Greg Schaffer just told me he will bring his vacuum tube multi-vibrator he built as a kid. Todd Bailey, Eric Schlaepfer, and Ted Selker always have some cool projects for you to admire, as will Stanford's Tom Lee.

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For immediate release:
The fourth annual Analog Aficionados party is Saturday February 16, 2013. The party is at David's Restaurant in Santa Clara, 5:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m., in the heart of Silicon Valley. Analog electronics tech workers and their guests are welcome to attend. The party is also well-attended by students, college professors, and tech media. Please RSVP to the email listed on the party blog page so we can have a badge ready for you and your guests: RSVP, Analog Aficionados.

This year's party is in honor of Hans Camenzind, the designer of the ubiquitous NE555 timer chip. Hans passed away last August. Already confirmed as attending are professors from MIT, San Jose State, Georgia Tech, San Francisco State, Carnegie Mellon, and UC Santa Cruz. There will be industry luminaries from Texas Instruments, Analog Devices, Linear Technology, Fairchild, and Intersil. Experienced analog experts such as Dave Fullagar, the designer of the uA741, will mingle with young students and working engineers from all over the country.

Attendees of previous Analog Aficionado parties are enthusiastically awaiting this year's event: "I wouldn't dream of missing this. I had such a great time last year," said Todd Bailey, a consultant that came from New York for last year's party. "I know that Yi Yao was able to attend last year after he heard about it from us and was super-pumped to attend," reports analog blogger Chris Gammel. Notes Felipe Jimenez, a San Jose State grad student, "I would love to go as I had a great time last year."

Sponsors of the 2013 party include transistor maker Linear Systems, and media giant UBM, home of EETimes, EDN, and Planet Analog. Also reprising their sponsorships are analog IC makers Texas Instruments and Analog Devices.