It was in the year 2000, in Denmark, at a non-IEEE conference, Transducers 2000. The booth was staffed by John Vig and a volunteer from the IEEE Denmark Section. Also shown is our main competitor’s, Elsevier’s, booth.
Most, but not all of the comments by visitors to our booth were friendly and showed interest in the planned journal and conference. A few of the comments were somewhat on the hostile side, e.g. “So why does the world need a Sensors Council?” and “Why a new journal on sensors?” John knew the visitors who asked less than friendly questions. They were associated with Elsevier’s journal, Sensors and Actuators or with the Transducers Research Foundation, a sponsor of the Transducers conferences.
John was well prepared to answer such questions as evidenced by the posters, “Publish in a journal you can afford…” and “IEEE Sensors Journal.”
As can be seen on one of the posters, the planned price of the IEEE Sensors Journal had been $19/y for IEEE members, $10/y for IEEE student members and $395 for libraries and other institutions. Elsevier’s price for Sensors and Actuators, parts A and B, was several thousand dollars per year for all customers (there had been no member price, no student price, and no special institutional price according to their website.)
Our inaugural exhibit booth served its purpose well.
