Vendors and booth operators at the 2010 Offshore Communications conference seemed unanimous in their assessment of this year’s traffic – the potential customer base is growing in size and more engaged with vendors on how to meet their application needs.
   Cobham Satcom Sea Tel Product Manager Atul Chawla told Offshore Communications E-daily that there is a buzz in the air for the future of the market. "From the opening reception last night to the opening session this morning, I have noticed an energetic buzz between vendors, end-users and customers. Everyone seems to be engaged with each other and this has provided an excellent opportunity. It’s early in the show and it already seems to be beating all of my expectations."
  Chawla added that Wednesday’s opening session highlighted some of the most important topics for the conference. "The session was very popular because it previewed the discussions on Ka-band and WiMax that are important and will be discussed more in detail in the later sessions. These topics have more interest to me personally."
  SES World Skies Senior Sales Director of North America Edward Cox said the show has brought together a high concentration of valuable industry players. "We see a good mix of domestic and international customers. The location of show in Houston definitely brings out customers with an interest in the Gulf. But, it is a surprising variety. We expect to use this opportunity to learn more and more about the applications they are running in the Gulf and globally and find out where customers see future growth.”
  Cox said that SES has noticed increased bandwidth and traffic activity in the Gulf of Mexico with recent events demanding high-performance communications solutions. "We’ve been monitoring that region very closely."
   GComm Product Manager Rick Henegar noticed that customers at this year’s show seem to be more proactive in forming relationships with potential vendors. “So far, it’s been going great. Customers are talking more about their needs and being much more specific about their applications. There’s a confidence in the atmosphere, which is always a good sign for the state of the market."
   GVF Director of International Programs Kristen Kloster agrees with Henegar and said her organization has used the conference as a way to touch base with all of their members at once. “A lot of our members are reporting a lot of business right off the bat. It definitely seems to be a very active year and everybody seems happy."
   Intelsat Senior Director North American Sales Randy Anders said that operators are paying attention to high-activity oil and gas regions for a good reason. "Intelsat is investing into the Gulf of Mexico with the launch of five new satellites and this show is a great place for us to let our customers know what’s out there. They have a lot more questions and requirements this year and since satellite has had a good year, we have more offerings to give them."