PCB West 2022 Draws Biggest Attendance in Years

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There were more attendees at PCB West 2022 than I can remember in the time that it’s been held in this wing of the Santa Clara Convention Center. 

This week’s event, with the expo held October 5, was the first show since UP Media Group was acquired by of the Printed Circuit Engineering Association. I imagine they’re pretty happy with the results: The show floor was busier than I’ve seen it in years. For the first couple of hours, the aisles were jammed with attendees, even on the outside aisles. You couldn’t walk without squeezing past other attendees. It was a topic of conversation all day: “How about this crowd? Wow.”

I didn’t see any exhibitors packing up early. One exhibitor said he pulled in 70 leads in seven hours. Some exhibitors were still talking with customers at 6 pm when Vice President of Sales and Marketing Frances Stewart announced that the show was officially closed. 

The conference classes were also well attended. I checked out classes given by Rick Hartley, Susy Webb, Dan Beeker, Vern Solberg, Kevin Coates, and Gary Ferrari, and there weren’t many empty seats.

Almost everyone I spoke with said their company was having a great quarter, or slightly down after consecutive quarters of growth. And almost everyone is slammed with work, and hiring. One fabricator said a rep from a big OEM came to his booth and said, “Please tell me you have some capacity.” 

It was nice to see PCB West pull in such a big crowd. I think it’s a harbinger of a good trade show season to come. People are done with Covid, and it’s time to get back to normal. It’s definitely a great time to be in this industry.

Check out our slideshow of photos from this year's show.