Message from the Commercial Presentations and Exhibits Chair

Active participation by commercial representatives is a key factor that differentiates IPDPS from many other symposia and conferences. Although the number of commercial participants and supporters attending IPDPS usually does not match the number of academically-oriented researchers in attendance, their presence and impact is nevertheless extremely important. Representatives from the commercial sector will be participating in one or more of three events. First is the Commercial Exhibits, which will take place throughout the day on Tuesday through Thursday. You will discover that we have strategically co-located the exhibit area along with the refreshments available during the breaks! I encourage all attendees to stop by and chat with these exhibitors. As we all know, it is often those serendipitous exchanges that provide the stimulation and ideas we need to move our field forward. Many of my academic colleagues have told me how much they appreciate talking with their counterparts in industry because it either reminds them (or informs them) about the unique pressures and forces present in the commercial marketplace. The second event where you will see active commercial participation is during the commercial tutorials, which will be held on Tuesday and Thursday evenings. These tutorials will be particularly useful to learn about a company’s technology/product in more depth than is usually possible during the more informal exhibit forum. Thirdly, there will be a special plenary Commercial Track on Thursday morning for commercial presenters. This collection of presentations will describe various commercial technologies in considerable depth, and the associated papers are published in these proceedings. It was an honor heading up the Commercial Presentations and Exhibits for IPDPS 2005. Creating