This week our office had a visit from one of the most well respected automation journalists (and fellow BLOGGER), Mr. Walt Boyes, Editor and Chief of CONTROL magazine.  It turned out to be a great visit as Walt shared with us his vision of the market and opinions of the major players (including us).  Of course you can read all about Walt’s visit at his BLOG at:

http://www.controlglobal.com/soundoff/

I hate to admit it, but I was a bit nervous meeting Walt.  Not because of Walt personally (he seemed like a very nice person), but because Walt represents our first amendment right to free speech, which in the corporate world means “watch out what you say”. 

While my own time with Walt was brief, I did get a chance to toss in one of my own questions.  I really wanted to get his take on where he thought the process automation market was heading with regards to integrated control and safety systems.  I was absolutely shocked (in a good way) to hear his comments on where he believed the market was heading, particularly in light of his upcoming webinar titled “Hidden Costs and Side Effects Associated with Safety Systems Embedded with Control Systems”.  Let’s just say, I'll be listening intently to Walt’s own disclaimer, er, uhm, introduction for this June 5^th, vendor sponsored event.