I've been blogging for Cadence for nearly five years now, and I also use Twitter (@RichardGoering) and live blogging. Until recently, however, I was unconvinced that Facebook would become a popular social media channel for the semiconductor and EDA industries. Facebook, it seemed to me, was more about friends and family. But a recent look at the Cadence Facebook page showed me that Facebook has become a powerful communications tool for Cadence and its customers.
With over 65,000 "likes" and growing strong, the Cadence Facebook page provides a quick, easy, and fun way to stay current with Cadence events, videos, blogs, announcements, job openings, and more. You can also find out about interesting industry news and tips and, of course, share your own comments and questions about topics related to electronic design.
Here's a sampling of what's on the Cadence Facebook page as of Jan. 2, 2014. (You don't need to be a member of Facebook to access the links in this post).
The page provides a link to Cadence activities at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) Jan. 7-10, where Cadence will showcase its Tensilica HiFi audio/voice, baseband, and image/video processing IP and expertise. (Cadence will provide real-time coverage of CES through a live blog feed - you can find the live feed through the Facebook page, or you can click here to bookmark it.)
Several Cadence blog posts are featured on the Cadence Facebook page, including:
- Top Cadence YouTube Videos of 2013
- What Comes Next in IC Fault Modeling?
- IEEE 1801/UPF Tutorial from Accellera - Watch and Learn
- Virtuosity: 12 Things I Learned in November by Browsing Cadence Online Support
In most cases the page provides the first paragraph or two of the blog post, giving you more information about the post than just the title.
Some of the content on the page is purely for fun. For example, there's usually a photo for which you're invited to write a caption (see current photo at left). Today (Jan. 2) viewers are also being asked a question - what is your number one New Year's resolution?
Not everything on the Cadence Facebook page is specific to Cadence. For example, there's a link to an interesting EE Times article, Sales for Engineers. In the article Henry Davis, independent contractor, provides a short guide to the sales process with an engineering twist. There is also a link to an IEEE Spectrum video titled "The Year in Robots."
The Cadence Facebook page also features videos, and the current video is titled "Verifying the RTL in an Analog Circuit." It's a customer success video from SilabTech, which uses the Cadence AMS Methodology Kit to verify digitally assisted analog circuits (click on icon at right to view). The Facebook page also provides a link to the latest Unhinged TV video playlist.
Did you think that print magazines were gone for good? Not so fast! One thing I learned from the Cadence Facebook page is that Modern Printed Circuits magazine recently had a cover story featuring interviews with Hemant Shah (left on cover shown here) and Josh Moore (right), both from Cadence. In one interview, Shah talks about the benefits of a constraint-driven design system such as Cadence Allegro PCB Designer; in another interview, Moore discusses the benefits of the Cadence OrCAD PCB Designer product.
Cadence also has a Facebook page for job openings, which you can find here. It provides information about locations and benefits along with current job listings.
There is a separate Cadence India Facebook page and it is definitely worth viewing. This page has a lot of original content, ranging from technology (a look at sub-20nm challenges) to regional news (electronics manufacturing in India) to a photo of Cadence employees participating in a midnight marathon in Bangalore.
As I typed these words, the Cadence Facebook page went over 66,000 "likes." Perhaps one of your "likes" will be included in 2014. Meanwhile, what are your views about the role of Facebook in the world of electronics design?
Richard Goering
Related Blog Post
Top Cadence YouTube Videos of 2013
