ForbesOnTech

Demo 2007's Tasty Treats-- Another Tour de Force

IBridge network lead the presenters at Demo 2007. This non-profit group is a university research aggregator that lets entrepreneurs and their partners search for technologies or research using tags and their internet browser. If someone wants to buy any material they’ve found on the iBridge network the information is transferred as part of an ecommerce transaction.

            My standard litmus test for any Demo company has always been the following question: can the company or technology change how something is done, or redefine an existing process or technology? I also ask is myself is the product could help the smartest person I know, a conservative serial entrepreneur with an MBA from Carnegie Melon who lives in the Seattle area. This person is someone now in stealth mode,  hip deep in an alternative fuel technology.

            The iBridge network passes all of these challenges quite neatly and could help shorten time to market for start-ups. 

Salesworks—billed as SalesForce.com for small businesses, is a solid CRM and business optimization tool aimed at the backbone of American community enterprises—small businesses.  I loved this company’s pavilion demonstration, which was bottoms up; beginning with the benefit and branching up to features that compliment small businesses. And the folks from this demonstrator were able to give a great demo while being swarmed and battered with some tough questions. Over the years, startups shooting for the small business market have been a regular part of Demo. Salesworks is a great set of tools that fits tongue and groove with an emerging critical CRM tools for small business professionals. I am intimately familiar with other offerings in this space including Intuit’s QuickBooks and an older product called UpShot (which was aimed at ,edium and small businesses.  Just because no one has hit it big ibn this space doesn’t mean that the thousand-pound gorilla –oops I meant Intuit—has it locked up.  The simple truth is that reaching the small business market  is as costly a proposition as it isdifficult. Small business is a horizontal classification, not a vertical and it takes time and money to build a customer base there. And while a start-up is maneuvering the category gorilla settles into an evergrowing nest.

I have numerous friends who are small business professionals. Over the last 20 years I’ve helped at least seven of them make two-footed reluctant jumps into computers and more recently internet marketing.

My favorite small business guy is in the motor cycle accessories business. If you live in northern or north Central California and bought a pair of silk glove liners, after market motorcycle grips, replacement mirrors, light bulbs, or a CobraLink locking device, for your bike or scooter, you’ve probably bought one of the products he sells.

This guy, knows his customers and in some instances he’s worked with them since they worked in their parent’s motorcycle dealerships as teens. Customer relationship management?

Hey, he doesn’t need a computer to remember their birthdays, or to inquire about the health of their ubiquitous shop tabby or calico mousers or much  less their last order was.

That’s because he sees his customers at least once a week as he works his way relentlessly along his route.  But, after using a complex vertical application that takes up hours of his time without generating sales, he’s slowly coming around to the idea of acquyiring an application that helps him become more efficiently on his route and increases his sales. Salesworks is what I’m going to recommend to him.

SalesWorks was developed by Mission Research, whose existing software is used by non-profits to tracks contacts.  The only market segment that’s more cost sensitive than small business is the non-profit segment.

Seagate Dave—one of my favorite Demo 2007 products and something I definitely will add to my portable peripheral hardware collection as soon as it ships. Here’s a device for anyone with a cell phone or portable who wants to install songs, ringtons, photos or other media quickly on another device.  Dave is small, fits easily and safely ionto a shirt or briefcase pocket and has an interface that makes transferring data incredibly easy.  I loved this product’s specifications and Seagate’s Demo. One of the thing I like most about it, however, may be it’s most risky component—a belief that everyone has working Bluetooth connectivity. Although I continue to believe in Bluetooth, I’m among the many people who have struggled to make it work on my hardware—and this includes my Toyota Prius and an LG phone.  As soon as I told a cellphone addicted loved by calling her from Demo, her first question was “will it be available in time for my birthday?”

That’s the kind of excitemnt a good Demo product creates.

(editor’s note to marketing people at Motorola, Apple, Hewlett Packard/Compaq, Lenovo, Danger Research and anyone working on a phone at or for Google)  as well other companies—immediately call SeaGate and ink a bundling or optional co-branded accessory deal for DAVE. To go a step further, DAVE would also be a nice accessory for companies such as Trimble Navigation, which produce scientific instrumentation for technical professionals such as surveyors.

SharedBook, from SharedBook Inc.—Here’s another great example of a natural Demo poduct. Software tools and a mechanism that lets me, or a workgroup mark collect and share mutiple sources of information in a shared workspace. Over the last 12 years I’ve seen enough lengthy draft business plans prepared by students and enterepreneurs to jump whole footedly on the idea of custom books. SharedBook meets this need with an online product that doesn’t require twitchy browser add-ons.

I think a lot of people left Demo believing it’s primary application is for so-called family Memory Books. I think SharedBook can be used for much more

As a former Demo producer I recommend that anyone pitching a company for a spot at a future show go to Demo.com and watch this demonstrator’s onstage pitch. As I saw it on-stage my reaction was that I would have included a demo of how to document a company—for example a start-up—as well as a family member. I believe the post event coverage of this product in print media, which positions it as a tool for creating memory books, makes my point.

Vuvox—highly personalized video messaging with very good content creation accessories for establishing a unique look. What I liked about this is its ability to mix and tailor media to fit personal tastes. Could be a big hit among the MySpace teens and others. 

Eyejot, a video messaging platform.  I thought this demonstrator most of the way way home from Demo. I’m impressed but think this technology is a little late. I’m not being snarky, but video platforms remind me of VOIP service oferings; there are too many out there to survive for very long and the real action here will be in mergers and acquisition—perhaps the ultimate fate of virtually all companies scudding along under Web 2.0 sails.

Note to: Google, Yahoo as well as peripheral makers and entertainment PC manufacturers whose systems include integrated webcams. Act now! Lock either onf of these companies before the gate shuts close in your face.

Splashcast was another outstanding company at Demo 2007 and had perhaps one of the best on-stage demonstrations I’ve ever seen. Splashcast is media syndication at a level that most consumers will love.  The people in the audience down here who really grokked Splashcast were fathers of daughters who instinctively understood that this product is coming into their homes as soon as it’s available. Like SharedBook, I recommend that anyone who wants to learn how to do a dtrop dead effective demo, go to Demo.com and watch this presentation.  I believe it sets a high bar.

Well, I need to pay attention to my domestic mammalian overlords, who greeted me when I came in the door with much lap running through the house, jumping on the credenza and licking of my face.

I have one more Demo 2007 post which I’ll put up later. I’m back from Demo 2007 happy on my hilltop here in rural northern San Diego County—Jim Forbes 02/01/2007

(mandatory disclosure: I am a former Demo producer and the editor of its associated newsletters. I am retired now, and have no monetary or other connection with the Demo organization.)

Good Lord, how i love Demo. It's a mixed new product technological feast served up with drivethrough speed but the bypass surgery inducing transfats.

In case you've never heard of Demo I'll give you the short explanation: Demo is a 17 year old new product show case highlighting emerging corporate, internet and personal technologies and the companies that hope to popularize same. The companies that are selected are carefully vetted by the shows producer, a computer industry veteran named Chris Shipley.

To make the cut for Democompanies have to convince Ms Shipley that what they'rre working on really is trasformational. That's no small task, considering how closely she looks at each company, their proposed offering and their ability to present their technology in one of the show's six-minute on-stage spots.

Six minutes is all a company gets beforre they leave the stage and the next company begins its presentation. Demo is a technological crucible that brings together some of the brightest minds in technology and emerging transformation technologies.

(mandatory discoslure: I was a producer on the Demo shows and wrote their associated newsletters for nearly a decade. I had a stroke on deadline Demo several years ago and am now retired.  Demo 2007 is the first time i've been back in person at the winter Demo since I had my stroke. It seems like old home week and I'm thoroughly impressed with Ms Shipley's lineup.)

    Right off the top, the turnout is big, more than 700 people are on hand to see this year's almost 70 companies strut their stuff. There are five female CEO's among the 70 companies, which i think is a noteworthy first for any international technology show case.

    Demo 2007 doesn't kick off until later this morning but there are a couple of companies here i wanted to highlight before i see their on-stage presentations.

Zink (which stands for Zereo Ink)  is one of the coolest things i've seen or heard about in years. Zero ink technology udoesn't use ink cartridges or ribbons and instead relies on color LEDs and special paper to produce full-color images. The technology is truly transformational since it lets you carry a printer in your pocket along with your digital camera or cell phone. When I first heard about Zinc my first reaction was to wonder why Xerox or Kodak hadn't developed this. Watch Zink Imaging in the coming year, they could go on to become another major Demo success story. www.zink.com

My big reaction to this product is that it's a technological home run.Furthermore, it's going to frst appear in a form factor that fits in your pocket, making it possible to snap, print and share photos on the sppot hoow Cool is that?

Well it's so cool that you'll see digital cameras take a running jump on this bandwagon.

Sometimes it takes a long time for an idea to take hoild. Say long enough for an entrepreneur to look closely at an idea focus on its core value and hit all the marks that are required to make good on that dream.

That's the case with reQall, which lets you use your phone, computer or mobile headset to create and mnagw to-do lists. Reqall is an elegantly simple solution for managing to-do lists. you call Reqall service, which has a voice recognizer engine, and enter or manage your to do list data. The information is then stored on ReQall's servers and csn be sent to a cell phone as a short text message. Th eauty of Reqall is its simplicity. It's designed to accomplish one function and it does it elegantly while providing a platform that's available 24 hours a day from a ubiquitous device-- phones.

Of all the presentations i've seen this  morniing, ReQall's was the most seamless and did the best on-stage presentation. I liked how they focused on accomplishing a simple task that's at the heart of improving personal producgtivity.

I give them a big thumbs up and recommende you go to Reqall.com to check out theire service.

Well, that's all I have time for for now.I'll file again later in the day.  Jim Forbes Back to Where it all began at Demo. from Demo 2007 on 1/31/2007.

Five Ways to Get the Most out of Demo 2007

The absolute best way to get the most out of your Demo experience is to plan what you’re going to do before you hit the ground at the airport or check into the Marriott.

Here are some things you can do to get the most out of your Demo 2007 experience.

1. Designate one person among your Demo attendees as the official “Minister of Information and Contact Tracker”
2. Meet as a group everyday to discuss contacts you’ve made and feed that information to the Minister of Information
   1. An important ministerial duty is coordinating who and when action will be taken.
   2. Try not to limit your contacts to the press, bloggers, or venture capitalists.
   3. Make sure you team members are alert to companies and technologies that compliment yours. Pass this information to your Minister of Information.
   4. Make time to cruise the Demonstrator’s Pavilion to get an overview of the show.
   5. Begin following up on items as soon as possible.
3. Use Demo to network and talk to other companies.  Make sure your attendees spread out at meals and don’t all congregate like huddling penguin chicks.
4. The press. Demo is known for its high caliber press attendees. Reporters aren’t just looking for one story at Demo, they’re also looking for the first signs of emerging trends.
   1. Make sure you can position your technology or product as part of a larger trend story.

                                                              i.      Trend stories are most often written days or weeks after a show, so stay in touch with reporters you’ve talked to at Demo.

                                                           ii.      Trend stories let reporters dig beneath the surface of a technology so it’s important that you be able to differentiate your product from others in the same  category.

2. Bloggers are more apt to focus on single companies or technologies, than reporters from print organizations.  Also, bloggers are less apt to write long trend features that include multiple companies.
3. Meal time is a good time to sit down with reporters to talk about your product and its market. Such settings let the reporter move out of the “shifty-eyed-weasel” mode and provide a perfect setting to get to know an individual reporter and their interests.
4. Keep press kits and USB drives with images of your product at your pavilion Demonstrator’s station. Even bloggers appreciate artwork for their posts.
5. If you think your product really will rock the world, don’t be afraid to try and make an appointment with Los Angeles based electronic media. KTLA-TV, KNXT ( the LA CBS affiliate), KNBC and KABC all cover technology in their evening and morning broadcasts. Also, LA is only 2.5 hours from Palm Springs. Who knows, after the show, you may find it worthwhile to make the drive?
4. Your Pavilion demonstration is just as important as anything you may ever do on stage. Make every demonstration you give in the Pavilion count.  Over the years I’ve seen companies hit key early-stage and other milestones based on what’s happened in the pavilion. One of the best examples of this was  a company called Digital Transit, which was acquired shortly after it s Demo debut by Bit Phone (another demonstrator at the same Demo event). Digital Transit’s technology quickly was applied to the core of Bit Phone’s services and was a big reason why Hewlett Packard acquired BitPhone in November.

(Mandatory disclosure: I was a Demo producer before I retired. I am not now affiliated with Demo. I am attending this year’s event on my own and plan on blogging from the show. If you’d like to talk to me while you’re onsite, Becky Sniffen of MC2PR (who runs Demo’s press room) knows how to reach me. See you at Demo 2007.—Jim Forbes on 1/29/2007.

It's Demo 2007 time--An Old View From the Inside

This week I’m off to Demo 2007 over near Palm Springs. I’ve been looking forward to hitting Demo 2007 for the last six months.

(Mandatory disclosure: I have a vested intellectual interest in this show, I was a part of it on and off-stage for a lot of years, first as a writer (working on its associated newsletters, PCLetter and later DemoLetter, DemoMobile Letter and DemoLetter Weekly) and then as a producer of DemoMobile and Demo.

My work with Demo gave me an unparalleled opportunity to look at emerging technology and the legion of entrepreneurs who were funded to ride the technological wave. Hell, it wasn’t just a wave, it was more like a tsunami.)

For months on end, Chris Shipley and I would meet with company after company to isolate and pick what we thought were the ones that represented the direction technology would take in the coming years.

From the inside, choosing the companies for the show’s lineup is daunting. Selection is rarely a spur of the moment thing (although there are some companies that are so outstanding you know during the meeting that they’re destined for Demo). In the years I was involved in Demo it’s easy to remember my “Aha!” moments.

But selection isn’t the most time-consuming part of the Demo. Getting companies prepared for their technological debuts is.  It’s that task that, if you’re a producer, can leave you wondering if you really are herding squirrels. First and foremost, you have to convince companies that they have only six minutes to show and sell their technology. For entrepreneurs caught in the maelstrom of constantly raising money, getting them to focus on delivering a great presentation could be very difficult.

Their instincts are to pitch like they are meeting with venture capitalists in Sandhill Road conference rooms. But while VCs make up a double-digit percentage of Demo’s audience, they aren’t the only people in a hotel ballroom. So, I always urged the companies I shepherded through each year’s shows to do “Bottoms up” presentations that emphasized the direct benefits of their technologies, rather than where the technologists came from or who their investors were.

Looking back, the Demo pitches that rocked my and my audience’s worlds were those that clearly showed demonstrable benefits and cost savings, not just gee-whiz frosting on an existing technological pastry.

But more importantly one of the prime focuses of Demo is to isolate and highlight technology that will be important in the future. The products that the producers select to be included in the show represent what entrepreneurs are working on during the year prior to the show.  Demo producers don’t direct product development.

If entrepreneurs are working on consumer related technologies, then that’s what may dominate the event’s line-up. Producers such as Chris Shipley and myself spent a lot of time in planes and in meetings in the months leading up to the show and you can’t pick what’s not under development, no matter how many corporate rocks you look under. Some years the show has had a lot of consumer products, and other years it’s been mostly corporate offerings. But no matter what direction Demo seems to take, it’s a snapshot of an industry at a particular moment in time.

I’m willing to bet a finsky ($5) that many of the companies demonstrating new products this year will be trying to hit spots in the mobile and consumer markets. Some of those products will resonate with the audience, and others may leave attendees quizzically shaking their heads.  Based on what I know is under development, I suspect that there will be a bunch of products unveiled that simplify complex processes for consumers as well as businesses while protecting investments in technology and information, while at the same time unleashing creativity.

In support of consumer technologies, it’s important to remember that most major advances in corporate technology have achieved initial adoption in the consumer segment.

I’ll be at Demo 2007 on Tuesday night. I’m easy to spot, I’ll be the big guy with a cool notebook wearing a tie dyed shirt or one of my custom-made- outrageously-impossible-to-coordinate loud vests. Oh and if you come up to me and say “Hi Jim” expecting me to remember you please keep this in mind: on deadline at Demo 2002, my brain got rebooted in a stroke. But most of all have fun at Demo and make the most of your experience—Jim Forbes on 01/28/2007 just back from catching a bunch of huge Humboldt squid off the cold southern California coast. Brrrrrrrrrrrrr.!