LOVE it or loath it, if you are involved in the personal computer industry, the gargantuan Comdex Fall Exhibition in Las Vegas is difficult to avoid. Like no other, it is the event that determines what shape the industry takes in the coming year.
And believe me, it is big. Spread through the exhibition halls at the Las Vegas Convention Centre, as well as the Hilton Hotel, and the exhibitors space at the Sands Hotel and Casino, Comdex moves in and takes over Las Vegas, if such a thing is possible - for one week each November.
By the time Comdex closes, 200,000 trade visitors have passed through its doors to see the wares of some 2,150 personal computer and related industry companies.
Next year will be even bigger. We already know this, because Comdex organiser, The Interface Group, says that more than 2,350 companies have put their money down to reserve the premium-priced floorspace for the exhibition.
It is impossible to see all of what is on offer at Comdex in its kilometres of exhibition corridors . . . not without a good pair of running shoes, anyway.
But the people who are drawn to Comdex are serious technology types.