You may have been seeing some of the talk online about TechCrunch50 taking potshots at DEMO as its organizers try to get publicity for their new event, which they purposely scheduled during the same timeframe as the venerable, long-standing event. 
Can you say "in your face"? DEMO is now going into its 19th year and has become widely regarded over that time as the place for promising new startups to launch. The TC50 organizers are trying to claim that they somehow are more pure because they do not charge a fee to the startups they accept to present, while DEMO long has done so — widely seen as the price for the process DEMO puts a presenting company through to benefit from its first-class brand of company launch experience, which includes all the positive things that go along with that in the way of publicity and investor exposure.
I'm about to leave for San Diego to attend DEMOfall 08, which will be about my seventh time covering their events as a press registrant. They are very, very well run events. I also have a press pass to TechCrunch50, although, since the dates of the two conferences directly overlap, I will only be able to attend that last day of TC50 (in San Francisco), on Wednesday. I'd like to take in all of both events, but I can't; no one can, except from a distance or online.
TC50, despite its name, is actually debuting 52 companies. DEMO will have 72 presenters. Another difference between the events is that DEMO always releases its list of presenters the Friday before the event, which typically starts with a Sunday evening reception. TC50 has chosen to be, uh, different, saying it will only release names of its companies at 6:30 am Pacific on Monday, and that's only for companies who will pitch that day. It won't release the names of those presenting on Tuesday and Wednesday until 6:30 am on each of those days. Do some people know already who's presenting? Sure, I suspect word leaks out a lot from the companies themselves, although both shows prohibit news being formally released before their "embargoes" lift on Monday. (Note that press attendees' inboxes begin filling up days before both events, but they of course expect us to honor the embargoes, and I do.)
So, what do I think about all the hype going back an forth (most from the TC50 side) about this competition for Startup Launch King-of-the-Hill Event? A lot of distraction, really — which even TC now admits. This is supposed to be about the startups. I wholeheartedly agree. It seems there are plenty of them out there, so what's the problem with two events like this? Why does one have to be in the other's face? (It would just make a lot more sense if the events were scheduled separately.) I have a take on how they're different in other ways, too. DEMO, over the years, has increasingly tended to attract more established startups — which, of course, have no problem paying their fee. Many have raised Series A and B rounds by the time they get there, and I've seen many beyond that stage. Thus, the fee is a pittance for them, especially for the benefits they gain. (And it costs them more than that to have good PR support for the event.) DEMO has even taken to having 4 or 5 large firms introduce new products or services at each of their events. My hometown boys from Best Buy being a prime example at the year's DEMOfall… TC50, on the other hand, seems to be seeking raw startups for its event, those that have raised little or no money. Thus, not having to pay a fee is a good thing for them. More power to 'em! But it will be a different type of event than DEMO for that reason: earlier stage startups than most (not all) of DEMO's presenters.
Another way I'm thinking TC50 will likely be different: I suspect many more of their presenters will be Bay Area based. DEMO has long prided itself in its companies being from all over the U.S., and increasingly the world. (See my last post for the number of countries this year's DEMOfall class will be from.) We'll see how TC50's companies stack up in this regard next week
I did not attend TC's first attempt at a conference last year (called TC40), but I heard from a very experienced tech PR person at DEMOfall last year, who had come directly from it to DEMO, that it was "pretty horrible." I'm hoping for their sake, and for all the hype and expectations they have created, that they do better this year. And, most of all, for the sake of the startups — who may have not invested a fee into the TC50 event, but have surely invested many, many hours of preparation. And that's money, too.
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