Reflections and Memories of SubOptic 2007 By Alan Robinson Another SubOptic has come and gone, and in the quiet of retirement I have been asked to do ‘just one more article’ on my observations and reminiscences of those few days back in May. For those of you who attended the conference, I hope we provided the sort of gathering and meeting place that the subsea industry has come to expect over the last two decades. And for those of you who did not attend, may I recommend that you rethink your budgets and timetable for 2010 when Fujitsu and NEC will host the next event in Asia
and friendship. As every night came to an end there appeared to be an insatiable demand for the Irish Bar round the corner from the Marriott, where the owners must have been overwhelmed by the ability of the conference attendees to continue debating and discussing
The feedback from the attendees in Baltimore is still being analysed to help the next hosts and EC reflect upon the good and the bad, the memorable and the forgettable. But whatever the results this produces, please be assured that SubOptic will go from strength to strength whether the industry is on a high or a low, or hopefully on a steady, even keel, with sustainable growth prospects and profitability. On the more humorous and lighter side, the professional and social networking yet again proved to be a relay of excellent hospitality
the rich pattern of employment within our industry into the early hours of every morning! And when the last Irish ballad had been sung and the last ‘wee dram’ partaken, the security
staff of the Marriott were on hand to guide and assist the weary networker to more impromptu revelry at whatever location could be found to host the final, final dance of the evening! And so another SubOptic came to an end, leaving a trail of bonhomie and good will, merely mirroring and building upon the bonhomie and good will of Monaco. This friendship is the very spirit of each event. And on a more serious note, may I recommend all readers to this magazine to take the opportunity – whether you were at the conference or not – to go onto the SubOptic website and click on the link on the home page to ‘Telecommunications Online’ or go direct to ‘www. telecommagazine.com’ to view the series of interviews that were conducted by Steve McClelland as webcasts, to get the thought provoking views from a wide range of managers covering just about every sector of our industry. These interviews are a first for SubOptic and represent a lasting commentary on the state and future of the industry as seen from a wide range of very experienced operators in May 2007. These interviews are splendidly edited and presented by Steve, together with his article in 10