It's difficult to imagine George W. Bush or any sitting American president attending a gala for a technology trade show. But German Chancellor Angela Merkel is scheduled to attend just such an event Thursday night in Berlin kicking off the Internationale Funkausstellung, or IFA. (In English, that's the "International Radio Exhibition," according to Babelfish.)
Pronounced "E-fa" and little known in the States, IFA is best thought of as the European version of the massive Consumer Electronics Show (CES), which takes place each year in Las Vegas. The German show, which its backers claim is the largest of its ilk, dates back to the 1920s and is open to the general public. You have to work in or with the tech industry to snag credentials for CES.
Though mainly targeted at a core EU constituency, IFA attracts LG, Panasonic, Phillips, Samsung, Sharp, Sony, and other Asian and other European tech giants. Products span a pretty wide CES-type range: sexy thin high definition TVs, cellphones, computers, and environmentally-friendly "white goods" (think home appliances).
Some of those being showcased will debut in European markets ahead of the U.S. (assuming they come to America at all). Others are American products that are only now making their way to Europe -- iRobot, for example, is introducing versions of its Roomba and Scooba robotic vacuum and floor cleaners to the German market..
Chancellor Merkel's presence obviously reflects how big a deal IFA is to the Germans. Last year's confab attracted nearly 223,000 global visitors. (I don't know that there were any heads of state in the bunch.)
Of course, it's not unheard of for retired world leaders to show up at such industry events. Former Presidents Bill Clinton and the George H. W. Bush made a (presumably paid) joint appearance at the CTIA Wireless (cellphones and such) trade show in Orlando last year. Previously, CTIA featured an appearance by former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev.
By Ed BaigPhoto: The Panasonic display at IFA. (John MacDougall, AFP/Getty Images)
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