As everyone in EDA knows, Denali threw a party at every DAC for what seems like forever. It is actually since 1999 which, in EDA years, is pretty much the same as forever. When Cadence acquired Denali in 2010, the first question everyone had was not "What is going to happen to my DDR VIP?" but "Will Cadence keep the Denali party going?" Well, the answer to that question was "yes" and there has been a "Denali Party by Cadence " ever since. Several years ago, before Denali was part of Cadence, I had lunch with Mark Gogolowski. At the time he had the most fascinating job title in EDA since he was both the CTO and the CFO of Denali. You'll go a long time before you see those two titles on the same business card. I asked him how the party came about. It started in 1999 at DAC in New Orleans. Denali wanted to have a party for their customers, but they faced a couple of constraints. They couldn’t compete with the big EDA company parties of that era, but on the other hand they knew that parties weren’t much fun unless they felt crowded. So they’d better invite more than just their (few) customers, especially since they needed to partner with all the simulation vendors, which meant all the big guys anyway. So invite everyone. Denali was under 10 employees in this era, not well-known, so they were more worried about holding a party and nobody coming than the opposite. But never underestimate the gravitational attraction of an open bar. They expected about 100, maybe 150 people, would attend. One thing that they hadn’t anticipated was that the AEs from the big EDA companies weren’t able to get into their own parties (the execs and sales guys went with their customers; AEs need not apply). So they showed up in large numbers. In the end well over 500 people came for at least some of the evening. At midnight, the venue management told them they had to stop the party since the entire night’s alcohol budget was already gone. So they gulped, wrote a large check, and kept the party going for another hour. Shutting down a party as early as midnight in New Orleans and throwing the customers out didn’t laissez les bons temps rouler, as they say in the Big Easy. They realized that the party had been something special, and not just for their customers. The entire EDA community had shown up since Denali, as the Switzerland of EDA, welcomed everyone. So next year, it seemed like it would be a good idea to do it again. And so it has been for many years. Cadence has continued the tradition of the party. That became the Denali approach to marketing: sink (almost) the entire budget in an annual party. I think it turned out, somewhat fortuitously, to have been a great way to market themselves. We are in an era when it is really hard to get your name out in front of customers and partners. Denali didn’t have that problem, plus it had a lot of goodwill from the entire EDA community because the Denali party wasn't (and isn't) exclusive. You didn’t have to be a customer of Denali to get in; you could even be a competitor. This is another tradition that Cadence has continued: anyone may come even if they work for a competitor of Cadence. By the time Cadence acquired Denali, everyone knew who they were. They were still private at the time, and people wondered how big they were. But the financial question everyone wanted answering was, “How much does the Denali party cost?” I slipped a shot of vodka into Mark’s Diet Coke but he still didn't talk. Another tradition, that continues this year, is that the band is Disco Inferno. So take your mind back to 1977 when you were much younger (or, for quite a few of you, not yet born) when Saturday Night Fever was released: (Please visit the site to view this video) This year, the Denali Party is from 8:00pm to 12:30am on Tuesday, June 7, in Maggie Mae's at 323 E 6th Street. Of course, Disco Inferno will be there as always. However you must pre-register. But that just means that there will be a wristband waiting for you. You must then come and pick up the wristband at the Cadence booth #107 before noon or your wristband will be given to another person (yes, really). You cannot get in without a wristband. So go register now! Previous: CDNLive: Memories Are Made of This![]()
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