Trade shows have been booming lately, with an incredible variety of events taking place. Perhaps everyone felt the void of offline events during the pandemic years. Statistics show that the number of events and attendees has actually surpassed pre-COVID levels. The biggest draw of trade shows is being able to browse multiple companies, products, and content related to your field, all in one place. You can not only gather a wealth of information in a single spot but also see and experience things firsthand, which seems to be why they attract so much attention.
SqueezeBits has been busy participating in several exhibitions recently. One thing we noticed while preparing for these events is that AI is undeniably the biggest trend right now. It goes beyond AI-focused exhibitions. Trade shows for IT, media, manufacturing, and even defense all have dedicated AI sections. That's proof of how deeply AI is weaving into our daily lives, right? Since model compression and optimization are essential for AI to run efficiently, we've been feeling growing interest in SqueezeBits day by day. 🤩
In April and May, SqueezeBits ran booths at WIS (World IT Show) and AI EXPO. Compared to previous events, the standout highlight was clearly the introduction and demo of OwLite following its official launch. OwLite is a model compression toolkit that lets you achieve expert-level compression with just a few clicks. You can learn more about OwLite's development story and detailed features in the introduction post written by our PM. 😊
You can also check out the OwLite demo video on SqueezeBits' YouTube channel!
At the exhibition, we gave live demonstrations of how to use OwLite. It was a moment where you could see at a glance just how many thoughtful features are packed in, and how intuitively you can use them all. So many visitors were impressed that a three-year-old startup built a product of this caliber entirely with its own technology. As the HR manager, it was actually my first time seeing OwLite's detailed demo in action, and I was filled with respect for our engineers and a wave of pride in our team. 🥹
What makes offline events so valuable isn't just introducing our company and products; it's the face-to-face, two-way communication. We gave more tailored explanations based on each visitor's actual development environment and models, and we got to hear real-world concerns about AI model compression from practitioners. That's what made it truly meaningful. Some students studying model compression even had long, deep technical discussions with our CEO and CTO.
On the other hand, many visitors who hadn't known much about AI model compression left our booth with a new appreciation for why it matters. Watching people who first walked up asking, "So what does your company do?" gradually get that spark of curiosity in their eyes as they heard about our technology. There's nothing quite as rewarding as that. 👍
One thing you can't miss at any trade show is the merch and events! We brought back our fan-favorite Mobile Stable Diffusion demo at this year's booth. Visitors could try on-device Stable Diffusion that works even in airplane mode. It generated one image in under a second on an iPhone 14 Pro. We also offered to print the generated images as stickers, and just as we expected, cute animal images were the most popular. We got to enjoy all the adorable stickers visitors created and recharge a bit ourselves. 🤭
If you missed our booth, here's some good news. SqueezeBits will be running booths at NextRise 2024 and the 13th Smart Tech Korea in June! At NextRise, we'll not only participate in the job fair side event but also offer career consultations at our booth throughout both days. If you're interested in AI model compression, stop by the SqueezeBits booth for a career chat and experience our technology firsthand. An upgraded OwLite demo and fresh summer merch will be waiting for you. 🍉
Unlock the Potential of AI. Model compression and optimization are essential for sustainable AI. SqueezeBits will keep advancing compression technology to help the AI industry scale and make AI part of everyday life. We'll continue showing up at exhibitions and offline events so more people can connect with our mission and technology. We're excited about what's ahead for SqueezeBits, and we hope to meet many of you in June. 🙌
Check out the open positions at SqueezeBits!