I came down to Houston for ABB Automation World figuring I'd hear the same old speeches and hear the same old "my DCS can whup your DCS" talks I've heard for years from all the major automation vendors. I was surprised. This event is almost doubled in size from last year, with about 1700 attendees, made up of 700 end users, 417 channel partners and 600 ABB folks. But the most interesting part so far was that the keynotes were not about technology, or how wonderful ABB is, or about Microsoft (the event sponsor) or Dow and the wonders of chemistry"¦but about relationships, building trust and working together both within companies and between companies. Comments? --Walt Boyes