Demo, an annual technology showcase gets ready to kick off tomorrow morning and although the companies who will mount the show’s stage to show their new products aren’t talking until after the event opens Monday morning, it’s clear that despite a tight economy entrepreneurs are confident their products are good enough to establish news standards in consumer, enterprise and other technology categories.
There are several score companies here in Palm Desert that are ready to open their corporate kimonos in order to attract risk capital providers, angel investors and the 50-plus reporters from national publication who are attending Demo 2010. One of the biggest trends at this year’s show is the software code used by social networking sites such as Facebook.com or giant micro blogging sites like Twitter to add capabilities to those sites that drive consumer spending. There’s another subcurent at this year’ show that could add a new dimension to social networking sites; direct connections between businesses that use social media and their customers. Although it’s a concept that’s been widely discussed for years and there are already companies such as computer makers Lenovo and Hewlett Packard that use social media to connect with customers, new code from veteran software makers here are expected to make it easier for such companies to directly contact consumers using social media sites.
Demo’s success can’t be measured solely by the number of attendees who make the annual trek to the Coachella Valley to attend the show. Increasingly the show continues to attract serial entrepreneurs who have launched multiple products here.by my back of an envelope calculations, there are at least five companies at Demo 2010 whose founders launched previous products at the show. And the seasoning those entrepreneurs bring to Demo is visible when you talk to them. In years past, young entrepreneurs were often reluctant to disclose the granular details. Today, those veterans are much more apt to provide quantitative information an intrinsic part of their presentations.
Demo’s new executive producer is Matt Marshall, the editor of VentureBeat.com, will raise the conductor’s baton early Monday morning, setting the beat for Demo in the years to come.
Some quick Demo factoids:
There are approximately 500 attendeed at this years show with a high percentage of venture capitalists, angel investors and a smattering of corporate investor groups.
There are 55 accredited reporters/bloggers (including six representative from international organizations) at the show who will be filing reports from the show daily.
Demo continues to attract companies from outside the US and there are a couple of stealthy startups here from Israel, Sweden, Finland, Canada and the Ukraine.
Well that’s all I have time for now and Demo2010is about to start. Jim Forbes from Demo 2010 on 03/23.2010.
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