Next year, industry magazines Optics Report and Laser Focus World will bring a new international optics conference, Photon Forum, to Tucson.
This April 5-7 event, which the founders anticipate holding annually, may attract more than 100 leading companies and research institutions from around the world to Loews Ventana Canyon Resort.
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Perkins and Laser Focus World Publisher Christine Shaw met through their publications of mutual interest. Focused on the optics industry in Tucson, Optics Report is published online at www.opticsreport.com by Breault Research Organization, a Tucson firm that produces optics engineering software. Catering to more than 80,000 engineers, Laser Focus World is published by Pennwell, a Tulsa, Okla.,-based publishing firm with 45 industry magazines.
The idea for the conference germinated over the summer, and the involved parties formalized the agreement in October. So far, response to the idea has gone over well with potential speakers, sponsors and guests, Perkins said. She expects delegations from 100 to 200 organizations to attend.
"Now we will go out and solicit attendees," Shaw said. "This is a great way to bring them together."
The real marketing campaign will begin early next year with about 500 gold-leaf invitations sent to top companies and research institutions worldwide. Perkins will contact the chief technology officers of large corporations, such as Raytheon and Sony, to solicit delegations from those firms as well. Laser Focus World also will run two-page advertisements in its first three monthly issues in 2004. The conference should attract companies both nationally and internationally to participate, Perkins said.
"We're going international," Perkins said. "It's not seen as competition. We're linking with other optics centers."
Both Breault and the University of Arizona are known for cooperative international relations. In fact, representatives from the university met with delegations from the governments of Mexico and Canada earlier this month to discuss collaborations. About 70 percent of Breault's business now comes from Asia, Perkins said.
"The most difficult part is putting the speakers together," Shaw said. "That's our hook to get attention."
A number of speakers are already signed up for the event. These will include representatives both from Tucson and the international optics community. Technologies covered at the event will include drug discovery, proteomics, clinical diagnostics, vision technologies, non-invasive surgery, telemedicine and other imaging technologies.
"The fields that are outlined are the emerging sectors here," said John Grabo, director of marketing and international programs at the University of Arizona Science and Technology Park. "This isn't tourism. This is a place where you can apply all of it."
The University of Arizona Science and Technology Park signed on as the first sponsor for the event. The conference should be a valuable networking tool, Grabo said, and the university will use the opportunity to showcase its facilities in pursuit of global recognition and contracts.
"We need to do globalization," Grabo said. "This conference has the potential to spark real globalization."
The conference also should help Tucson regain its place as a recognized leader in optics internationally. Tucson's identity as "Optics Valley" has been diluted over the years by other areas around the world claiming the title and taking a little bit of the spotlight away, Grabo said.
"It is critically important that we refuel our brand name for optics," Grabo said
Tucson has several things going for it in this regard. The Tucson optics industry is focusing on the emerging bio-technology market, making it especially interesting to outside researchers, Perkins said.
Emerging markets are becoming more attractive as a means of pulling the entire optics industry out of an economic slump, Shaw said.
"We have gone through a really vicious down cycle," Shaw said. "Arizona, we think, has a distinct advantage."
Arizona seems more attractive now because it wasn't tapped out the way other communities were during the telecom boom of the late 1990s, Shaw said. Areas such as "Silicon Valley" saw cost of living and other factors push businesses away. Tucson, on the other hand, is still growing with attractive cost of living and quality of life standards. According to Shaw, Arizona is the magazine's second largest revenue generating state behind California.
Over the next couple of weeks, conference materials will be completed for distribution. Sponsorship opportunities also are available for the event. For more information about the forum, visit www.photonforum.com.
Kyle Schliesman may be contacted at kyles@azbiz.com or 295-4238.
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