News

Net-atHomeTM2004: A Milestone in the Evolution of the Connected Home Area (22/12/2004)

Homega Research is very proud today to announce that the 7th edition of the Net-atHomeTM conference and exhibition has been successfully held in Nice, France, on December 1 & 2, in the framework of a whole week dedicated to the worldwide markets for the "connected home", attended by over 350 delegates from 25 countries.

The level of attendance reached at the Net-atHomeTM 2004 and the feedback received from delegates upon their leaving are clear indicators of a new development phase of the connected home markets worldwide: Big volumes are in sight, most major players are involved, time is no longer devoted to concepts but to business models.

Net-atHomeTM is the annual industry forum organised by Homega Research, a market and technology company established in Sophia Antipolis, France and specialising in the field of "Technologies and Services for the Home". All along the years, Net-atHomeTM has succeeded to become "the best event in the connected home area, this year in 2004, as usual" (Daniel Schellhoss, EVP Marketing & Sales, Prosyst).

In order to allow industry reps to maximise their stay in Nice, a number of events had been co-located with Net-atHomeTM 2004, organised the days before or after the Net-atHomeTM conference and exhibition, in the same venue: the prestigious Palais de la MŽditerranŽe Hotel in Nice.

Among these co-located events: the TEAHA Open Forum ( the Visionair Workshop ( the ENTHRONE Expert Panel Meeting ( the ePerspace Open Forum ( the CENELEC SmartHouse Forum ( the European Commission's D2 Concertation meeting ( the NEM Initiative's launch event ( the Net-atHomeTM Pre-conference Workshop

The 2004 edition of the Net-atHomeTM conference and exhibition has received a very positive response from the industry since 54 organisations have accepted to support or sponsor the event, 30 companies have decided to exhibit their leading-edge products and services, and 36 high-level speakers have positively answered an invitation to share their experience and visions with the audience.

From a survey of delegates performed upon their leaving, it appears that both aspects of the event have been very positively assessed:

The exhibition area, arranged in the same room than the conference following an "Agora" approach, proved to be very well suited to exhibitor expectations: "It is not so common to attend a show where all those visiting your booth are valuable contacts" (Stefan Gonnet, Support Engineer, eDevice).

The conference, organised in plenary thematic sessions addressing key market issues (Asian markets, home platforms, standards, trials & deployments, etc.) succeeded to be "an excellent conference with many opportunities for in-depth discussion" (Nancy Goguen, Executive Director, Strategic Marketing, Broadband Communications Group, Texas Instruments).

Net-atHomeTM 2004 thus appears as having been a very successful event, "highly recommended to anyone interested in providing home networking products and services" (William Dodd, President & CEO, Biltmore Communications).

However, ways to improve the event concept and maximise sponsor, exhibitor and delegate benefits have already been identified so that the 8th edition of Net-atHomeTM, can even better serve the industry at a key period of market evolution worldwide.

www.net-athome.com