Well, two days since my return from San Diego, let me summarize my take on the latest DEMO event and share some random images and opinions. First of all, everything was extremely well run. This is *the* most crack conference team on the planet — logistics, food, press support, absolutely flawless wi-fi, the whole nine yards — even great bumper music. 
I just wish theyda told me the hotel had two towers, and that if you were unlucky enough to make your reservations a bit too late, you’d get stuck in the West Tower and have to hoof it three-quarters of a mile to where the event was held, in and around the East Tower. For the prices, there has to be a better venue in the San Diego area.
But, more importantly, what was the tenor of the event, and what were the takeaways? I touched on a lot of that in my report published on event-review site Conferenza.com the other day. But let me ramble on a bit more, now that I’m two days removed from it all. DEMOfall was definitely an upbeat affair — exhuberance was in the air at every turn. [Even if sunshine wasn’t. Now, if someone could demo a technology that would remove fog, haze, and overcast from the San Diego climate, that would really be something!] 
It was reminiscent of the pre-crash conference scene for sure — and I wondered how many of these people were experiencing this “high” for the first time. My guess would be a large percentage, because there were many, many young faces in the crowd.
The mix of technologies — consumer tech vs. enterprise IT, business vs. home, widgets vs. software (including another kind of widget!) — was excellent. There was something here for everybody. Almost too much — but that’s always the case at DEMO. Trying to cover it all is essentially impossible for any one reporter. Which is why outfits like Ziff Davis/CNet send multiple people — but they have separate media entities, too, which is how they can do that. 
The press policy is a very democratic one, I learned: it allows only one reporter from any one media outlet, even including the WSJ, NY Times, USA Today. But let me apologize now for not covering all 67 presenting companies. Nothing against any of you that I didn’t — just not enough time. It’s flatly impossible to do, with any depth, anyway. [I did manage to blog some 37 of them, though!]
Would I recommend DEMO as the launchpad for a new startup? Absolutely, positively — if you can handle the rigor and the preparation. It’ll make a better company out of any fledgling startup, I assure you — just going through the process (starting with getting accepted). The next event, which will be #25, is in Palm Desert, CA, January 30 – February 1 (where the weather is guaranteed to be much better). It’s at the Desert Springs Resort & Spa. How does one apply to present? Read all about that here.
Let me share a few more pix I shot at DEMOfall — these with my new little HP Photosmart M425. That’s the one with the new “pretexting” feature… 🙂 Five megapixels, very compact, 3x optical — not bad for a hundred bucks. [More proof of The Cheap Revolution, as Rich Karlgaard calls it.] I’ve included a shot from the demo of the wi-fi bunny, from Paris-based Violet, a product Ed Baig of USA Today called “easily the silliest Demo product.” 
Another of my shots shows the two presenters from Eluma on stage, including VP marketing Joe Lichtenberg on the right, who just told me his firm got one of the coveted “Demo God” awards that were handed out at the final evening’s dinner (which I had to miss). 
That’s two Demo conferences in a row where companies I’ve run into early and blogged about became Demo God winners. [Just lucky, I guess…]
A funny scene near the end of Wednesday’s closing session was Chris Shipley strutting out with the surfboard giveaway, replete with shades, to the sounds of The Beach Boys’ “Surfin’ USA.” 
I was so hoping to win that nice stick (donated by sponsor Qualcomm). But, alas, the guy in front of me did — and he didn’t even seem excited about it. Dude?
One final ranting bitch about the show, which I just have to get in, is exemplified by my final photo, which is of the CEO of Moixa Energy presenting. [You’ll remember this outfit, if you’ve been reading my blog, as the one that got my vote for the worst name — though I’ve since decided it’s a tie with PrefPass.] His “USB Cell” may be cool — though it certainly isn’t the most visually elegant product I’ve ever seen. 
But could the guy conjur up something better to wear than the most god-awful pair of jeans I’ve even seen? I look better than that when I’ve done lumberjack work for three hours in the woods behind my house, for kee-rist sakes. In his defense, he was just one of several presenters who were dressed shabbily. And, sorry, anything including jeans fits that category for me. Please, Chris, can we have a dress code for presenters? It’s the least they can do for us. Hey, if Steve Jobs is coming on stage — fine, he wears what he wants. But these guys, they ain’t no Steve Jobs — okay? 🙂 Certainly not yet… And having them pretend like they are is just too hard to stomach.
What were the takeaways of DEMOfall 2006?
• The tech economy is strong. But we’re not in a bubble, according to the show’s producers. [How could we be when the Nasdaq is still 55% down from its high in the year 2000?]
• Money is flowing. Many of these startups-you’ve-never-heard-of have already raised substantial funding, as reported in their profiles. And a person can only wonder how so many of them get such amounts, based on what appears to be a sketchy or risky plan. I can only recall a few presenters who said they were bootstrapped — that is, surviving just on their own funds at this point. Whatever happened to the raw, truly undiscovered startups getting a chance? Must they all be VC-backed already?
• Consumer tech continues to influence enterprise IT. And Web 2.0 type services are leading the way here. The center of gravity is now on the consumer or individual user side of things. Internet apps are where the most energy is these days, not in computers, operating systems, desktop apps, and the corporate IT power base of old.
• The tech economy, and really the entire economy, is going global faster than you think. This Demo had the largest number ever of non-U.S. presenting firms. And who knows what percentage of all the firms that pitched are relying at least partially on offshore technology expertise to develop their products. Either that or on immigrants who now call the U.S. home.
One final thing: links to a couple of excellent recaps of the event by some of the good press people covering it. First, a story from CNet with several contributors, including Rafe Needleman, Daniel Terdiman, and Dan Farber, all of whom I chatted with at the conference. And another good story is from Thursday’s edition of USA Today, by Ed Baig.
Tags: DEMOfall 2006
Metcalf: I presented the class with a very detailed look at Flyspy, from high–level concepts to detailed aspects of the business model and technology costs. Remember, the class was going to produce a business plan with an emphasis on IT management. The major points that I hit on were:
planned my morning so I’d get up real early and do a few hours of email and writing for my blog (it was way too cold to surf, anyway), then pack up and head north from my place in San Clemente to catch Guy’s keynote speech at 12:30. It would be a short drive from there to the airport, I figured. Well, I rushed and rushed and barely made it to the conference’s press room right about the appointed time, only to find out his speech had just ended! Apparently, they’d moved up the schedule. Darn, I’d missed it! Since I’d never actually met Guy — though I’d heard him speak a couple of times, and was instrumental in getting him to speak at a large technology event in the Twin Cities several years ago — I was bound and determined I was actually going to meet him this time (which circumstances had prevented me from doing previously). So, off I tromp, over to the Marriott, where I figured he might still be hangin’ around afterwards talking to folks. And, sure, enough, as I’m walking in and down the hall toward the meeting rooms, here comes Guy right toward me, carrying his briefcase, big smile on his face, slowly starting to make his way for the door. So, I introduced myself, and we had a nice chat as he walked together back to the lobby. After explaining that we had a common friend in Rich Karlgaard, I asked Guy what he spoke about (“the Art of the Start”), and how many were in the audience (200, he was told — many of them entrepreneurs launching businesses to market to boomers). I also asked him about his blog….of course! He seemed like he wasn’t all that impressed with his “gross numbers” so far. So, I asked how many visitors he gets, and he said, “Oh, I have about 10,000 readers.” I said, hey, that’s great. Then, I wished him luck, said I’d catch him somewhere else soon, and we both split. But at least I don’t feel so bad now about my 2000 readers last month. Gee, a fifth of the way to Guy Kawasaki — I’ll take that any day! Guy’s blog, by the way, which he just launched January 1, is 
Okay, here’s the 30th and last post in my “DEMO 2006” category (many also tagged in other categories, as listed on the right) since I began publishing pre-conference. So, who could have done more posts than this — maybe CNet? Then again, quantity isn’t everything… 🙂 But I was honored to be on a list with many of the great 
It was non-stop buzz, business models, and blabbing about everything imaginable relating to today’s souped-up economy for technology startups (especially Internet-related ones)…a giant energy-drink slurpee lasting three days. And the people — wow! I know I met many who’ll be valuable contacts and friends for years to come. Plus I learned about some cool new services that’ll help me in my crazy, tech-challenged world…just as I know they’ll help you. 
Companies in point who presented at Demo that are taking advantage of this trend in various ways include: 
But I was fascinated by how blog-savvy so many of the companies are that launched at DEMO — and I learned a lot from them. They get the blogging model, the power of the blogging community. They spent just as much time talking up the bloggers as they did the traditional press. Blogging is even changing the model of how some tech companies launch — read: without traditional PR. My fellow blogger and conference reporter Shel Israel did 
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