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Season's greetings from the World HQ of JGA. Actually,
I'm writing this letter as I relax in my Tokyo hotel room
after a busy week at Semicon Japan. The room is very small,
so I am typing it while sitting in the bathtub. The Semicon
show was very big - attended by more than thirty thousand
exhibitors and about twenty visitors. Even though it is December,
the weather in Tokyo is very mild. Many trees still have their
autumn colors, which I take as an indication that fair weather
will soon return to our industry.
By all accounts this was another disastrous year for semiconductors
and for the world at large. We at JGA managed to pull through
in pretty good shape thanks to a tight budget and a few good
customers with their eyes firmly on the future.
First let me update you on the people you have come to know
from years of representing JGA in the field. Kerry, Sol, Dat,
Mo, Vijay and Anu are all still on the job creating and distributing
world-class software applications. Sol bravely made his annual
visit to Intel Fab 8 in Israel and has returned in one piece.
He brought me a souvenir gas mask, which I've been using when
I open my mail.
Kerry, Sol, Mo and one of our new recruits, Scott, recently
returned to Scotland to install some software upgrades for
our good customers there. Sol was happy not to be traveling
in a war zone - although I've heard soccer games can get pretty
nasty in Scotland.
I really admire Mo's toughness and courage these days. As
you may know, his full name is "Mohammed Mahmoodiyeh." Can
you imagine what it's like going through Airport Security
with a name like that on your boarding pass?
 Last
April Kerry and I attended a software conference in India.
The photo at right shows us with Anu and Vijay discussing
some of the finer points of e-diagnostics just before
paddling down the Ganges River. For health reasons the
only beverage I permit myself to drink while in India
is beer. They have a very unusual tasting brand named
"Old Monk," which I will try to avoid at all cost on future
trips. |
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 Many
of us also attended a company-wide strategy session
at Phantom Ranch in the bottom of the Grand Canyon,
Arizona this past October. Here is a group picture taken
on the second day during the walk out. We are still
smiling because we do not yet realize we have a ten-mile
uphill hike to reach the top.
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 And
here is a picture of Dat and Sol discussing TrendViewer
upgrades. I apologize if it seems we are having too
much fun. I encourage you to try having more, yourself.
Next year we hope to hold a strategy session at Sequoia
National Park, and maybe one international location
where we can get low prices - Kandahar?
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I want to mention a couple of other JGA people that you may
not know. There is Bill our Controller and Corporate Bus Driver.
(Since we are a small company, most people have more than
one job responsibility. For example, in addition to my presidential
duties, I am in charge of the lunchroom trashcan.) And there's
Andrea, our public relations consultant. She helps us with
trade show arrangements, press releases, and other duties
to help "get our name in front of the customers." She has
been traveling with us this week in Japan. She reminds me
of a humming bird - small, lots of energy, and cute.
Our software department always deserves special mention.
Dat is the leader of the U.S. operation, followed by Andres,
Scott and Nish. When they eat together, it looks like a United
Nations Food Bazaar. (We recently installed a very large exhaust
fan in our lunchroom.) The India-based software department
includes Anu, Vijay, Nilesh, Bhartendu (sounds like Bartender
- although he doesn't drink) and Surjit. Taken together, they
are an excellent crew because they know how to finish projects:
once they begin work, they hide the specification from me.
This year we have been focusing on e-Diagnostics. We feel
qualified in this area because we have already been providing
PC-based diagnostics for a long time. We feel it's not so
difficult to add the "e." However, we are still trying to
figure out what the "e" stands for. Remote? That would be
"r-diagnostics." How about internet-based diagnostics? No,
that would be "i-diagnostics." If you know what the e stands
for, please contact us. My best guess, "Easy." (The hard part
is the 'Diagnostics.')
In summary, although this was not great year, I was fortunately
not on any airplanes that crashed into great American landmarks,
and I'm looking forward to a better year in 2002. Have a happy
holiday and avoid contaminating your exhaust lines by remembering
to eat reasonably.
Best regards,
Jon Goldman
Jon Goldman Associates, 2237 N. Batavia St., Orange CA 92865-3105
USA. Tel: 714-283-5889; Fax: 714-283-2884; e-mail:Jon@JGA-Inc.com.
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