ForbesOnTech

Follow-Up After DemoFall07-- It's Important

The absolute best way to get the most out of your Demo experience is to take the time to review the people your company met with at Demo and systematically begin follow-up conversations.

Here are some tips that can help you get the biggest bang for your Demofall07 experience.

1.   Organize the business cards and contact information you gathered at Demo.

a.   Try not to limit your contact lists to the press, bloggers, or venture capitalists.

2. Wherever possible make sure the member of your company that met with someone initiates follow-up contact.

2.   Designate one person to monitor and track conversations with people you met at Demo.

1. Make sure you monitor blogs for mentions of your company or its technologies.

b.  Get the people who attended Demo from your company to meet as a to discuss their follow-up conversations.

3. Make a special effort to contact members of the press and bloggers you met with at Demo to see if you can provide additional information on your company or its technologies.
   1. Most reporters, editors and bloggers who attend Demo write “trend” stories that may include your and other company’s products that serve a common market or need.
   2. Trend stories often appear weeks and months after the end of Demo. Be prepared to provide writers with detailed information about your technologies or news about your company.
      1. Make sure you can position your technology or product as part of a larger trend story.
         1. 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.

b.  Bloggers are more apt to focus on single companies or technologies, than reporters from print outlets.

c.   Now that you’re back in your office, don’t be shy about contacting local print and electronic media outlets. Provide editors and reporters with a specific link to your demonstration on Demo’s Internet site.

d.  Do contact the news departments, including AM television shows to tell your story.

4. Stay in touch with the producers of Demo. Let them know of funding events, product updates or licensing agreements.  This information is published regularly in the weekly edition of DemoLetter.

Now that you’re home from Demo, take a couple of deep breaths and get back to work on your products and technologies.

*Becky Sniffen of MCPR2 contributed to this post.

(Mandatory disclosure: I was a Demo producer and editor of DemoLetter and DemoMobile Letter before I retired several years ago. I am not affiliated with Demo. See you at Demo 2008.—Jim Forbes on 10/05/007.

More Disruptive and Category Expanding Technologies from Demofall07

FastCall 411, Localized Commerce and Great Consumer and Vendor Facing Features

For the last couple of years I’ve harped on the need for localized ads as a key component to any mobile search product. Localization has the potential to become a significant disruptive force in search, driving a hard wedge between those companies that skim cream off the market, and search providers who grow their businesseds from local rootstock.

            One of several companies at Demofall07 that made me sit up and take notice was Fastcall411, a Los Angeles area startup that’s focusing on local search by focusing on local businesses with high availability responsiveness quotients and the consumer facing experience.

            What I liked about FastCall411 most is its consumer experience. The search engine is fast enough to deliver a solid experience over a cell phone connection to the web. But that’s not even half of what sets this company apart when it comes to the consumer experience. Once a consumer locks  on a local vendor, the query turns into a VOIP phone call connecting the caller to a local vendor via FastCall’s server. The  vendor is committed to providing a phone number that’s available and this startup gives consumers the ability to connect to more than one number to local vendors ( important when dealing with tradesmen who list their cell phones in addition to office numbers).

What made this Demo really hit home was that immediately prior to its Demo  I was also in phone mail hell, trying frantically to find an electrician in Escondido who could restore electrical power to my mountaintop redoubt. Damn the carpenters who cut a line into my home office!

            Fastcall411 isn’t electronic Yellowpages for the web. It’s a service that actively partners with local merchants, ranking them by their availability to respond to consumers. And there is no charge to the consumer for the service.

But it gets better, much better. Fastcall serves local businesses, a segment that Google currently overlooks unless they happen to be the local component of a national brand.

Moreover, FastCall provides an actionable service with a straight path to a transaction.

I believe it can compete against Goog411 because FastCall is a bottom-up proposition whereas Google is a top down service that overlooks whether or not a vendor can actually service the needs of a caller. Focus on the consumer and you win. 

It’s services like FastCall that most likely will provide a seasoned crop of  future ad and service sales reps for Google, Microsoft and Yahoo when they realize that localized Internet ads have the potential to be a mother lode.

BatchBlue—Great CRM for Small Businesses

BatchBlue is another company that seized my attention at Demofall07. What I like about Batchblue is simple: it’s an easy to use service with several modules that help small businesses manage tasks, contacts and sales information.  BatchBlue is aimed at what I think is the most exciting part of the emerging market for web-based applications, Small businesses and sole proprietorships that have been slow to adopt technologies but which have viable positions in their markets and communities.

In contemporary terms such entities are called “microbusinesses.” However despite their diminutive title, it’s a huge category (20 million nationwide) and an underserved market. And, while Intuit tries to serve this market with product like  QuickBooks there have been few attempts to offer this wide market CRM, sales and task tracking software.

            The contact system used b y microbusinesses is often nothing more complicated than a vinyl covered business card case.   Post It notes are often used to track track to-do or follow-up items.

            BatchBlue surpasses my personal customer test on virtually all levels. . It’s inexpensive—sole proprietorships get to use allthree of its modules free of charge and the service is web-based, which means it can be accessed anywhere there’s a web connection andit provides a free gigabyte of storage for such businesses (which I believe will be adequate for most users).

            I really like this company’s blue ribbon management team, which comes from Amazon and it’s tight focus on the small business market.  BatchBlue’s managers report that future iterations of its  modules will focus on integrating information from Microsoft Outlook or other contact management software programs.

            Right out of the gate, when I saw BatchBlue I thought of this company’s potential as a partner for other companies trying to hit the microbusiness segment. BatchBlue could be a company to watch in the next 12 months.

DimDim Disrupts and Sets new Standards for Web Conferencing

           It’s hard not to take a shine to companies that launch obvious disruptive technologies or services. I think they also make the best type of companies for Demo events.  DimDim, a free web-based conferencing service makes it to the top of my list in this category at Demofall07.

           My “Holy Cow” moment came About 75 seconds into the DimDim’s Demo when I realized that this company could not only steal WebEx’s business but that it had a great business model that could tap into the huge marketing and promotional budgets of office supplies stores and technology suppliers.  DimDim’s Demo was one of the best I’ve ever seen.

            What really rocked my boat was this product’s capabilities and standard features, which makes it as easy for workgroups made up of people who work in dissimilar locations to share documents, files, computers and electronic whiteboards as easily as large corporations do using expensive or proprietary conferencing system.

            I’ve always looked at companies and technologies launched at Demo and thought “Wow, this could also be used to…”

            And the fisrt thing that came to my mind was the use of DimDim in the profitable continuing education segment (which I believe desperately needs technologies that keeps audiences engaged and in their seats). Secondarily, it was easy to imagine DimDim being used to launch new products or services to controlled audiences.

            DimDim appears to be easily scalable and is being offered in enterprise, Open Source and other iterations. This technology is so disruptive that electronic conferencing will be divided into two categories: “before” and “after” DimDim.While t his copmany isn't the only free web-based conferencing application (Yugma is one of its competitors, its sufficiently different to set a new standard and dsisrupt the category).

Don’t just take my word for it, go to www.DimDim.com  and watch the online Demo.

As usual, there were many other products at Demofall07 I really loved—Jim Forbes, still thinking about what I saw almost one week later on 10/03/2007.

(Mandatory disclosure: I am a retired producer of Demo events and writer/editor of the printed and electronic versions of DemoLetter and DemoMobile Letter. I have no current affiliation with Demo other than a parent’s pride in its accomplishments. That’s my story and I’m sticking to it!--jmf).

DemoFall, What Really Rocked My Boat

Every time I go to Demo I find a couple of transformational technologies that I believe can substantially change how things are done. Walking Demofall07’s Demonstrator Pavilion Tuesday and Wednesday made me feel like a Gold Rush Argonaut finding sparkling nuggets shining in a champagne sea of precious metals.

            Nobody would ever call me an unbiased Demo attendee. I picked companies for Demo and produced shows for a long time.  I consider my experience with the show to be the capstone of a 35-year career, so I have a pretty clear idea of what goes into the decision to select a company. That’s why it’s pretty hard for me to be surprised by what I see at the shows.

            What I saw on stage and most of all in the Demonstrator’s Pavilion this year represented the most interesting category of technologies and companies picked for the twice a year show. That all-inclusive category is made up of products that enhance experiences or redefine technologies.

            Right off the top:

Phreesia: making life easier for Docs and Patients Alike

            Phreesia, a tablet-based computer aimed specifically at doctor’s offices, gets big marks from me. This company has a device that makes collecting patient data, easier.  It also helps doctors and clinicians devote more time to medical care and less time to record keeping, which accrues benefits to patients and medical professionals alike. In a nutshell here’s how it works: you check in at the doctor’s office and you’re given the Phreesia device, which has a stylus and a card reader. The patient fills in data on the device using simple check boxes or by completing onscreen forms. The card reader can be used to collect insurance billing or other information.  The information is downloaded in the doctor’s computer system and the patient records or treatment data is seen by the care giver immediately prior to (or concurrent with) the doctor seeing or treating a patient. In addition to collecting information, the tab interface on the tablet computers also provide patient with general (and in some cases patient-specific) health information. I really like how the collection software forced me to provide sensitive information and how this system can be used to collect patient family histories, which can be used to improve individual medical care and to improve some quality of life issues. The business model behind this company—whose systems are in  first deployment to 200 doctors’ offices now has stratospheric potential. In addition to the sale of its systems and software updates, Phreesia (like the older Palm-based ePocrates systems) can tap into paid sponsorships from big health care spenders like pharmaceutical companies, or other companies who reach patient markets through material distributed directly or indirectly at the offices of medical care providers.

            Reducing physician workloads and improving the accuracy of patient data and treatments is part of an important larger trend in the US and Europe. In California a new class of medical specialists called “scribes” is beginning to appear at large regional emergency care hospitals.  Equipped with convertible computers such as those made by Lenovo, Fujitsu, HP and others, emergency room scribes collect basic patient data and information on treatment procedures as it is rendered.

Check it out at www.phreesia.com it could help you get better medical care.

CashView--Ringing the bells of business owners and their bookkeeper CFOs.

            CashView is a fiscal management tool that should ring bells with company CFOs, book keepers or departmental managers. CashView lets managers link digitized financial and electronics records with documents, providing a single repository that provides annotated explanations for receivable and payable accounts that can be accessed anywhere and which provides cash flow management tools.

I had two reactions when I sat through the Pavilion Demo of CashView: first  I think have finally seen a financial record keeping system that could be used anywhere, by almost any small or medium sized business owner; Secondarily, I am amazed that QuickBooks Developer Intuit missed this opportunity.

Time and experience benefits start-ups that are quick to exploit niches and new opportunities.  CashView appears to be one such company. It not only provides great basic tools, it’s also willing and able to digitize financial records its subscribers send to this company’s headquarters and then provide business owners with access to those electronic records. This start-up has a management team that specialized in small business management software and is attacking a market that has more than 20 million potential subscribers.

Office automation remains a huge opportunity for entrepreneurs who want to use the web to provide service to small businesses. The obvious barrier to success in this market, however, is finding multiple vehicles to reach what amounts to a very wide vertical opportunity that includes tradesmen, jobbers, family retailers and other businesses. Today, CashView has no real competitors, however, it’s not unreasonable to expect that Intuit or other companies would move into t his space.

Kanuu: a Kangaroo-Sized Leap in Interface Technologies

Kanuu hits a Demo category that is important to consumers as it is to businesses -- user interface technologies. Unlike other user interface systems that have appeared at Demo over the years, Kanuu melds on-chip and on device approaches with a web service and delivers a rocket ship fast approach to finding information using joystick, virtual keyboards and other input devices such as those found on television remotes. Kanuu has one of the best partial word completion algorithms I’ve ever seen. Based on my brief test of it in the Demonstrator’s Pavilion, it provided a faster and markedly improved experience over T9-based word fill-in technologies.  Kanuu seems particularly well suited to searches for data that is returned in list-based formats. I have a special test I use to quickly test technologies such as Kanuu’s.  I ask it to find a fairly unique version of the Doobie Brothers classic “Takin’ It to The Streets” that was performed at Wolf Trap outside Washington DC several years ago. It’s a trick search, since this particular version of the song has been removed from YouTube and other  sites in the last three months.  Even so, I keep hoping that it exists out there, somewhere.  Kanuu couldn’t find it, but it did return the 75 or so other versions of t his song that is out there in the ether. And it did so faster and with less effort than I’ve seen demonstrated with any other emerging interface technology.

My other reaction to Kanuu is even more straightforward: I can’t imagine any company other than Google, passing on it in favor of years old tired technology. Kanuu is one of the first new interfaces that appear to offer true device independence. Would I expect to see it on living room electronics and cell phones in the future.  Will other companies look at licensing Kanuu? I fervently hope so.

The downside here could be new interface technologies from Microsoft, Apple or Google’s mobile communications platform group. Microsoft in particular has been developing mobile interface technologies that are better than T9 for the last several years.  In fact, one such technology was Demonstrated as a “a research and development” project at DemoMobile seven years ago.

Myxer: Rapid deployment of Mobile Content to Multiple Platforms.

Wan to get the attention of a retired DemoMobile and Demo producer in record time? Show me a service that lets me convert my own content into formats that can be displayed with little or no degradation on multiple mobile platforms (which tragically often have their own unique attributes or standards). While producing DemoMobile I probably screened as many as 20 companies that wanted to mobilize content. Very few made the cut because most were too limited in their services, or were often fatally paired with a single platform or display resolution.

Myxer is one of the first products I’ve seen that lets websites rapidly transmit and distribute rich media (songs, videos or images) to most mobile devices. What rocks my boat about Myxer is simple: the company already delivers more than 6 million files a month to more than 2 million users. Moreover, it has relationships in place with concert and event production entities to distribute themed rich content. Moreover, its existing technology allows it to insert advertising in files that are delivered to tightly focused audiences.

Chris Shipley notes this company could face competition from sites like LinkedIn, ZoomInfo, Jigsaw and others (all of which support various provisions, for limiting access to information), Myxer is a simple solution to a problem that’s so complex most people have not attempted it. But, unlike companies that want into this technology, Myxer has both an existing channel and an upscale audience.  I give Myxer a giant “fins up” for its technologies and for providing access to technologies that are both costly and too technologically prohibitive to new audiences.   Check it out at www.Myxer.com

Well my foot hurts, there are more companies to see and I want to post a bit about a couple of other companies later today.

            Demo, I helped produce it for a number of years. It still gets me excited. Jim Forbes, shore side, San Diego Bay at Demofall07.—09/26/2007.

Things I want to See at Demofall07 and Demo08

My wish List for New Demo Products and Technologies at Demofall2007 and Demo08

I'm hardly a neophyte when it comes to technology. But despite the fact there are more products and services than I can,use (or afford) there are some things I hope appear on the horizon very quickly:  Some of these and the reason I want them are:

Consumer Friendly Transaction and Tracking Technologies

         Simple customer transaction systems designed to make it easier and perhaps more rewarding for me to buy goods and services from web sites. In all the thousand of presentations by start-ups i sat through while screening companies for Demo shows, I remember only one product that emphasized it would ease the transaction process for all types of consumers. I remain fundamentally convinced that respect for consumers and the concept of building a business by building bonds with the consumer of goods or services is something that's completely overlooked by business schools with that emphasize entrepreneurial business models. The exceptions to this may be the Kellogg School and the Anderson School (both of which seem to turn out graduates that understand a simple concept: real consumers power commerce). Among today's successful businesses, Amazon, eBay, Hewlett Packard and Intuit all get high marks for building tight bonds between consumers and their services. I wish there were more and I really hope I see a start-up someday that creates a technology that can be used by Interactive marketers to make online transactions-- from ordering through delivery and post sales interactions, seamless and strong enough to forge a tight bond between the customer and the vendor. And where will the people who develop ground breaking technologies come from:  look to the above listed companies and graduate business schools for talent.

Cell Phone Services, Games and Other Technologies, Watch Out for Thrifty Subscribers!

    I've seen a lot of after-market services for cell phones over the years. Very few  have survived very long.  Some day that will change, but if the product is for the US market the providers of such services and their venture backers need to understand that despite it's size, the US cell phone market is extremely conservative and is ill equipped to adopt "great new technologies.  No one category of companies and service providers illustrates this better than unified in box services. There's been no shortage of start-ups in this space and virtually none have ever made the intergalactic sized leap from niche to carrier/provider. Like all "universal" statements, there is always one exception to a rule. In this case that exception is Grand Central, which was recently acquired by the Google Octopus to bolster it's still unannounced communications platform. However, as of this moment, Google isn't a carrier or provider. There's a fundamental flaw that's responsible for the lack of success in this pace.  That flaw has to do with an inability to understand or research how, why and who is responsible for technology acquisition among telcos and cell-p hone carriers.  The person who authorizes a technology acquisition at telecommunications and cell phone carriers isn't the same person an entrepreneur hung out with in b-school.  In reality, the recent b-school grad working for the phone company is seven cells to the left or right and two rows down from the exec who makes the "go" decision and most entrepreneurs are not equipped to deal with the multi-part sales process of conservative US communications carriers.    Similarly, I believe the US and other entrepreneurs who believe in cell phones as a source o revenue or as a gaming platform is looking at real numbers and may be overly dependent on extrapolated financial projections. By and large using a cell phone to make an Internet connection is an expensive proposition. Strike one.  Also, the trend among consumers is to cut cell phone costs. Technologies that run counter to this distinct trend are inherently crippled.  That's strike two.  Finally, consumers want products with good graphics and fast displays and refreshes. (By definition that taxes the underlying hardware and network bandwidth capabilities. Strike three. The one run in this game may be Sudoku, which has a small memory foot print and doesn't require a lot of bandwidth. It's also so addictive that the consumer may be willing to pay for it.

VOIP:  Too Many Companies And a High Standard

How many VOIP telephone suppliers will it take to produce someone who is more successful and useful than Skype? Like it or not, Skype has set a very high standard in this space. I use it daily for personal calling, video and conventional conference calling and low level messaging. I would love to see someone go against Skype and offer better inexpensive services and great call quality. Until that happens there are too many companies vying for limited funding in a market with an established gorilla. The impact of eBay's acquisition of Skype has yet to be felt, but I suspect there could be some big news in the coming months.

Google's  Dominance Isn't graven in stone.

What the market gives, can also be taken away, very quickly. I believe there is still a lot of room in Search engines, particularly in vertical markets where access to specific data can make or break a a commercial transaction.One of the specific technologies I would love to see is the development of better pattern or face recognition search engines.

Those are some of my hopes for future Demo products. There are more, but I'm off to launch my boat and berth at the hotel where Demo is being held. Even I have my priorities. More importantly, I'd like to know what technologies you want to see in the future.--Jim Forbes on 09/24/2007

(Mandatory disclosure: I am a former Demo producer and newsletter editor.  I am retired now and have no official role in the show or the entities that run it. Void where prohibited by law. Some assembly required.)

Suceeding at Demofall07-- Remember What Got You on the Program and Rehearse Your Pitch

Demofall07—Demonstrators, Remember Why You Were Selected!

In all the years I was around Demo, both as a reporter and later as a Demo producer, the presentations that made me really nervous were those that tried to use humor to get one or more points across. I distinctly remember watching a lot of companies rehearse in the days before the show and groaning at failed attempts at humor. 

I’d wait till the company was done, walk over to a table with my pad and politely say their sketch didn’t do them much good. It was never easy to do this.

realized the companies had invested hours, a lot of time and often called in consultants to prepare their material. I’d offer my criticism and see their faces drop. Sometimes they’d say “but it’s our six minutes.”  And since subtlety is a concept that’s mostly lost on me when I’m on deadline, I’d reply “yes, and it’s our show and a great chance to launch your product.”

Your Pitch is your Theme

Many times I felt like I was pulling a nursing f a nipple. But that’s the way it had to be.  For reasons that still remain unclear to me, many Demo companies would forget a simple premise: they were picked based on their presentation to Chris Shipley or to a subordinate analyst or producer. It was that pitch that got them in the show, not the pitch they’re polishing for their stage presentation. Where companies get in trouble is when the polishing occludes the message.

Nothing does this faster than a missed attempt at humor.

The Producer, Not The Consultant Got You On the Program

As Demo has grown, so has the community of third-party marketing and demonstration consultants. And there are a lot of such organizations with good track records at getting their clients in Demo. The show has become a success because of their willingness to present clients as potential demonstrators. But, although they may have had previous successes in getting companies through a tricky door, they have never really controlled who gets picked. That job belongs to one person alone, and Chris Shipley is the ultimate gatekeeper to the path leading to a six-minute spot.

As the minutes countdown till Demofall07 begins this week on the shores of San Diego’s inner harbor, the one thing demonstrator companies should focus on above all else is reinforcing their primary message.

Back to my original premise on using humor: at DemoMobile 2001 one of the last demonstrators was industry veteran Mark Eppley.  Mark knows how to do a fast-paced demo that grabs and keeps the attention of the audience. He concluded his demonstration with a loud “boom.” Today, I don’t remember the product, but I do remember the date of that on-stage explosion—September 10, 2001.

What makes Demo far different than other shows that have popped up since it started almost 20 year ago is it’s very high production values, the attention to detail that goes into selecting a company and positioning it for its six-minute spot, and the amount of effort Demo companies put into their presentations. When the magic comes together on stage and in the Demonstrator Pavilion, it’s pure poetry.-- Jim Forbes, 09/22/2007

(Mandatory disclosure: I am a former  Demo show producer and editor of  the printed an electronic versions of DemoLetter and DemoMobile Letter. Now retired, I cover Demo in my blog. Any other questions? Look for me next week. I’m the big ugly guy with a convertible notebook sucking coffee near the back of the room, as I pound away doing near real-time blogging.)

Preparing for the Demofall07 Pavilion--It's As important as Your Stage Spot

How to Make the Most of your Demofall07 Pavilion Experience

Demo is a fast paced and fascinating crucible for young and old companies alike. While most companies spend considerable time polishing and refining their on-stage presentations, a lot of the real magic in Demo happens after a company has left the stage and is standing by their tables in the Demonstrator’s Pavilion.

            It’s natural to think that you want to wow the audience with an upbeat, professionally staged on-stage demonstration.  That’s good for the event. But what can be better for your company is an even shorter bottom-up presentation that’s tailored for the Demonstrator’s Pavilion.

            When you company is on stage the audience is focused on you. Demo is designed to cut down on anything that distracts from your opportunity to deliver a message while you’re on stage. The Demonstrator’s Pavilion is a different opportunity. It’s set up not only to allow you to strut your company’s stuff, but also to facilitate business networking. It’s the second part of the proposition that requires you hone your presentation to a razor’s edge.

            To succeed in the Pavilion you need initially to be able to quickly engage a subject’s attention and then hold it for two to three minutes. And while you’re doing acrobatics with your mouse and the pixels are zooming around like a Steven Spielberg lighting effect, the person watching your carefully planned and rehearsed demo is subject to being distracted by his B-school buddy, a swelling bladder, or just as likely, the passage of the USS Reagan outside in San Diego’s harbor. That’s why it’s just as important to practice your Pavilion pitch, as it is your on-stage demonstration.

            More importantly, each and every person that works your station in the Pavilion has to be able to deliver that same pitch, each and every time.

            If your audience needs a more detailed demonstration make arrangements to take your notebook and requisite equipment to a quiet place where you can deliver a distraction free demonstration. As part of your preparation for working in the Pavilion, find a place where there’s good wireless connectivity and (if needed) a persistent cellular connection. Don’t assume that every quiet looking nook or cranny is wireless nirvana.  Create and distribute “treasure maps” showing the locations you’ve found that offer optimal demonstrating conditions.

Part of the allure of attending a conference on the shore of San Diego harbor is the constant parade of large aircraft carriers, fast moving US Navy missile frigates, high speed Navy SEAL team delivery boats and the occasional 80-foot hover craft (called LCAC’s) as well as the infrequent atomic submarine transiting the harbor. Make the most of the distractions, but don’t be rude and check email using your demonstration hardware.

Use your co-workers at  Demo as field scouts. The information they bring back can be a priceless tool in positioning your product against others, or within categories. If you think something your scouts have learned on their technological forays is critical to positioning your product, highlight that feature in your Pavilion pitch. Again, make sure everyone working your demonstrator table delivers the same pitch.

            Members of the press will come by your station. Make sure you keep a supply of hand out material close at hand. While I personally dislike hate sitting through Power Point presentations, I prefer to learn as much about a company and its products as I can in the Pavilion and sometimes a concise slide deck helps.

            Can this strategy pay off? You bet. One of the little known “Best-of Demo” stories I’m aware of is that of a small company called Digital Transit. I picked this company because of its simple technological approach for updating mobile hardware. They had not yet received venture funding but they understood that the Demonstrator’s Pavilion was the place where they could get their technology in front of people who would license it, or fund their operations. Digital Transit was officially acquired shortly after the show, but the acquisition began at Demo Mobile in the Pavilion. Today, Digital Transit’s technology is at the heart of HP’s mobile device operating system update process.

            A final thought: If your company has hired someone to help you prep for your stage appearance, make sure they also work with you on your Pavilion pitch and demo.

            See you next week at Demofall07. I’m the big guy commuting to the show in an 18-foot white Panga, docked behind the hotel—Jim Forbes 09/18/2007. 

(mandatory disclosure: I was the founding producer of DemoMobile, the predecessor to Demofall and co-produced the annual Demo conferences with Chris Shipley. I also wrote and edited the monthly and weekly versions of DemoLetter, DemoMobile Letter. I am now retired and no longer work for Demo.  I live in rural San Diego County.)

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