Gawker: valleywag, demo

Tech World's Redoubts of Sexism and Xenophobia

Ryan Tate — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 17:21:41 EDT

Concentrate engineers and tech executives in one conference hall, and the ensuing sausagefest is bound to produce some moments truly offensive to women and foreigners. Just ask the organizers of TechCrunch 50 and Demo about their recent low points.

Reveling in over-concentration of males in Silicon Valley tech companies, TechCrunch's startup conference kicked off earlier this month with talk about strippers. Penn Jilette regaled the crowd with the story about how one made a ton of money off his magic app, and is set to publish a "Stripper's Guide" to the software, which helped her increase her tips. Twitter groaned. Then came the booth babes, despite organizers' advice against using the scantily-clad female models as a promotional gimmick.

Conference co-host Jason Calacanis also has to admonish attendees not to mock the accents of some presenters, whom he makes a point of culling from around the world. In response to our email, he wrote,

I've asked folks to be tolerant about language issues for three years because 15-year olds in chat rooms can say so horrible things about folks outside of our country. It's frankly embarrassing that I have to do that. When I speak in China, France or Japan they don't give me a hard time and I'm not even attempting to speak their language.

Over at VentureBeat's Demo conference, which ran the week following TechCrunch 50, some male participants freaked out about a presentation from a female fitness entrepreneur with well-toned arms and visible muscles (pictured left, via VentureBeat). "Whoa, presenter on stage has bigger deltoids and biceps than me, and she's wearing a red dress," wrote one participant. "The TotalTrainer presenters scare me," tweeted another. "Those muscles don't belng at Demo." VentureBeat's Kim-Mai Cutler blasted back in a post entitled, Internet spreads sexist tweets faster than ever: "You guys need to shut up."

Demo also featured complains about foreign accents; one columnist, CNET's Rafe Needleman, went so far as to suggest people with "a noticeably weak command of English shouldn't be allowed on stage," a native-language requirement that would see American entrepreneurs like Calacanis, along with their translators, banned from many global stages.

Calacanis said there's only so much an organizer can do about any of these issues:

I love these idiots who blame conference producers for social issues. In related news, terrorism is driven by action films! ...Sexism exists, sure, but a conference producer can't change the statistical conundrum that most of the CEOs in our industry are male (like 90%+ I would guess).

Of course, an organizer can at least set the tone, for example by imploring tolerance of accents, as Calacanis has done, or by avoiding inviting women reporters to serve as "cocktail waitress"es at their poker games, as Calacanis has apparently not done (he insists men get the same treatment and often have to serve drinks to join his games). And Valley geeks can use the tools they've invented, like Twitter, to shame the worst offenders. It would appear that process is, if not in full gear, at least underway.

Is the Demo conference still worth $18,500?

Paul Boutin — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 12:18:00 EST

For nearly twenty years, the Demo conference has been considered the place to be for tech startups seeking attention for their new products. Instead of speeches, companies are required to give live demos of brand-new products, basically launching them onstage. Demo organizer Chris Shipley has a reputation for picking products worth flying to a conference to see. But in this economy, Demo has a problem: The show makes money by charging participants $18,500 to get onstage. The rival TechCrunch50 doesn't charge. What does $18,500 buy? Shipley has published a list of conference benefits. Don't bother reading it. Instead of checking off fluffy perks like "an online microsite" and "invitation for one senior executive of your company to attend the invitation-only CEO/Dealmaker's dinner," Shipley should write another post: List all the successful products that were launched at Demo. Because right now my stomach hurts too much to remember them, and I know I'm not alone.

Michael Arrington mocked by Kara Swisher at Demo

Jackson West — Tue, 09 Sep 2008 06:00:00 EDT

In the war of words being fought between the organizers of the DemoFall and TechCrunch50 startup conferences, AllThingsD reporter Kara Swisher unleashed quite a salvo yesterday: "Being lectured on journalism ethics by Michael Arrington is like getting parenting tips from Britney Spears." Zing! She proceeds to call out the TechCrunch50 organizers attacks on Demo for what they are — "Marketing 101." Walt Mossberg was a bit more diplomatic, offering more subtle jabs like, "It never occurred to me not to come here [Demo]." Here at Valleywag, we maintainthe highest standards of impartiality through our willingness to get kicked out of any and all such events.

Demo vs. TechCrunch beef has entrepreneurs chewing softly

Alaska Miller — Mon, 08 Sep 2008 12:00:00 EDT

It's the echo chamber's busiest week of the year. Chris Shipley kicked off the Demo startup conference on Sunday in San Diego. Michael Arrington and Jason Calacanis have amassed an army for ~~TechCrunch20~~ ~~TechCrunch40~~ TechCrunch50. We're curious: Which one are you going to, and why? Tell us in the comments. One prominent tech blogger told Valleywag he's splitting his time between the two shows because he doesn't want to offend either Shipley or Arrington.

No such dilemma for cam queen Shira Lazar, a Los Angeles TV personality and Seesmic comment diva who's been shamelessly flirting with Arrington in public, online, for months. Lazar has landed in San Francisco for the TechCrunch show. Here's a video showing her having to deal with Michael Arrington and preparing for the big TechCrunchOrgy. You can stop watching after she mockingly tells Arrington how great he is, unless you're really into watching Lazar pick out her wardrobe.

Michael Arrington "classless" says Stewart Alsop

Jackson West — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 10:40:00 EDT

Reporter Brad Stone jumps into the fracas between the Demo and TechCrunch 50 conference organizers, with venture capitalist and Demo founder Stewart Alsop saying of Arrington's public baiting:

What I’ve seen from Mike Arrington has just been classless,” he said. “I don’t understand what business objective he has other than to get notoriety.”

Arrington, for his part, admitted to enjoying a good wallow in the mud. [NYT] (Photo by Pete Jelliffe)

Demo organizer makes nice with accused plagiarist Jason Calacanis

Paul Boutin — Mon, 11 Aug 2008 21:10:00 EDT

Shortly after we ran the item about the writer who accused Jason Calacanis of plagiarizing from his TechCrunch50 conference's main competitor, we got this email from Chris Shipley, who has run the Demo conference for years. Short version: The text from which writer Deb McAlister-Holland claims Calacanis copied exactly 1,893 words may have been in a newsletter sent out prior to 1996. McAlister-Holland claimed her piece "was on the Demo website for three years," but no one's turned up either a copy or McAlister-Holland yet. Long version: Demo's current guide to presenters, below.

————— Forwarded message —————
From: Chris Shipley
Date: Aug 11, 2008 5:06 PM
Subject: RE: Deb McAlister-Holland

Hey, Owen,

I am unable to find the original article, which again would have been in PC Letter pre 1996.

This is one of the advice pieces we provide to our demonstrators; I certainly wouldn't accuse Jason of plagiarizing this.

—-—-——

As you begin to develop your script, it is important to reiterate a few thoughts about what the DEMO audience expects from your presentation.

A LIVE DEMO

First and foremost, the DEMO audience expects to see a LIVE DEMO OF YOUR PRODUCT. If you are intending to do anything other than a LIVE DEMO you MUST discuss this with Chris immediately. The DEMO crowd will forgive the glitches that sometimes occur when you are giving a live demonstration; they are rather unforgiving when they discover that a company has "faked it." Don't risk your credibility to slight-of-hand attempts to deliver a canned demo as a live one.

POWERPOINT, VIDEOS, FLASH, ETC.

Second, the DEMO audience is very familiar with the "no PowerPoint" rule of the DEMO stage. No slides, no videos, no Flash animations, no clever screen savers or wall paper. You have been invited on the DEMO stage to show your product, not your graphic design skills. That said, in specific instances where the use of a visual aid enhances the audience's understanding of the product or its market, we will make exceptions to this rule.

If you are seeking an exception, keep in mind:

1. The visual must be limited to the bare minimum to communicate a key point.

2. They should always exclude extraneous marketing hype.

3. They should never take more than a minute of your on-stage time.

Remember, UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCE may you include visuals without prior approval, and then you are only permitted to show that which is approved. Clever ploys to circumvent this approval will be met with profound disappointment.

TIMING

Third, please remember that your time on stage is strictly limited. At the end of your time, we will bring up music to escort you off stage. Don't let your final comments be lost because you've gone over your time limit.

Some of our direction and advice may sound a little harsh and maybe even foils some of your grand plans. But trust us: Over the years, we've seen some big ideas fail miserably . . . and we've seen simple, direct demos succeed beautifully. So, finally, remember that we are here to help. If you have questions about what will or won't work on the DEMO stage, direct them to Karyn Williams as soon as possible (kkw@k2events.com). We'll gladly get back to you with the sound advice that will make your presentation a success.

SUGGESTED FORMAT TIPS FOR DEMO

* The introduction sets the context for your product demonstration.

* Use only 5% or less of your stage time on the introduction.

* Describe the market issue or user problem your product/technology solves.

* Give a brief summary of the history of the product/technology.

* Start your product demonstration within 30 seconds of taking the stage.

* The product demonstration should show the product/technology and

demonstrate its core value.

* 85% of your stage time should be used for demonstration.

* It's best to make only three key points. Remember you can delve deeper in

the Pavilion.

* Demonstrate only features and functions that support these points.

* The conclusion should be used to re-emphasize the benefits of the

product/technology.

* The conclusion should take up no more than 10% of stage time.

* Stress benefits to intended user.

* Stress benefits to industry.

Plagiarism charge rocks TechCrunch, bores Valleywag

Paul Boutin — Mon, 11 Aug 2008 20:00:00 EDT

Here's the short version of a long story: The TechCrunch50 conference is a relatively new event cohosted by blog entrepreneurs Michael Arrington and Jason Calacanis. It presents itself as an Web 2.0 counter to Chris Shipley's firmly established Demo event, which itself was created as an antidote to previous tech shows. Both TechCrunch and Demo unveil new products and companies live onstage. Demo charges companies to participate. TechCrunch does not, and claims Demo is a "payola" scheme. Got all that? Great, now you'll understand why it's a big deal that a lady you've probably never heard of claims that 1,893 words of Calacanis's guide to pitching your company "were directly lifted" from a guide she wrote for Demo ten years ago. Deb McAlister-Holland hasn't yet produced her original article nor responded to attempts to reach her, so I'm skeptical. Chris Shipley says the article predated her 12-year stewardship of Demo, and disavows the charges. Jason Calacanis, plagiarist? Come on, that would require him to give someone else the last word.

Jason Calacanis begs rival conference producer to switch sides

Jordan Golson — Thu, 03 Apr 2008 14:40:00 EDT

Our commenters are revolting. Specifically, over our continuing coverage of Jason Calacanis, who is famous on the Internet for owning two adorable bulldogs. But there's something charming about the sheer clumsiness of Calacanis's relentless hucksterism. Take the live broadcast he conducted to beg Chris Shipley, the producer of tech-startup conference Demo, to come work on Calacanis and Michael Arrington's rival TechCrunch50 conference. "Be part of the winning team! We are the street level team ... blue collar. Everybody needs to support the Jason Nation." J-Dawg, with that headset look, shouldn't you be playing CounterStrike? And on what planet are you and Arrington "blue-collar"? I can only imagine what Arrington said to you when you tried to put him on the speaker — no doubt something as subtle and polite as "Demo needs to die." The video:

TechCrunch50 vs. Demo — a fight guide

Paul Boutin — Thu, 03 Apr 2008 08:00:00 EDT

Conference gnomes will need to choose sides. Blog moguls Jason Calacanis and Michael Arrington have teamed up to schedule their TechCrunch50 show in September in direct competition to Chris Shipley's Demofall event. I've prepared a cheat sheet to follow the action at a distance.

Demofall runs September 7-9 in San Diego, Sunday through Tuesday.
TechCrunch50 runs September 8-10 in San Francisco, Monday through Wednesday.
Demofall showcases new products. TechCrunch50 requires that the entire company be a new launch.
Both events try to keep their lists of presenters a secret until close to showtime.
Demofall requires that exhibitors not participate in any other shows. Companies chosen to exhibit at both shows will be forced to pick one.
Job-avoiding members of The 250 will surely attend both. But most attendees and many journalists will be forced to choose either Demo or TechCrunch, and to skip the other entirely. Note: This is where the fun starts.
Demofall is a less-prestigious spinoff of the bigger Demo show held in January in Palm Desert, California. It was originally called Demomobile, but there wasn't enough mobile to demo. It's not all-out war until TechCrunch goes head-to-head with the January Demo.
Demo's organizers spell it DEMO, but it's not an acronym, so Owen makes me spell it Demo. I'm not sure why TechCrunch isn't Techcrunch by that rule. But I'm glad Valleywag isn't ValleyWag.
Arrington told VentureBeat that the schedule conflict wasn't intentional. It was, he said, the only time they could get the venue they really wanted. This is the difference between a journalist and a publicist.
Calacanis has been much more blunt about his desire to "take the payola out of Demo" by hosting a similar event that doesn't charge demonstrators a fee. It's currently $18,500 per company to appear at Demo, free at TechCrunch50. PR people I talked to believe $18,500 is a fair price for the exposure Demo gives a new product or company. But many of the shoestring Web 2.0 firms TechCrunch tracks simply don't have it.
UPDATE: New improved quotes.
- Arrington: "Demo needs to die."
- Calacanis: "Chris Shipley, you moved your event to compete with us."
- Shipley: "It baffles me, because ultimately it's not very good for entrepreneurs. It doesn't make sense how this will help them."
If she's so concerned for the entrepreneurs, why not let them do both shows? That seems easier.

TechCrunch50 announced — now with 25 percent more awkward pitches

Jordan Golson — Wed, 02 Apr 2008 19:00:00 EDT

TechCrunch and Jason Calacanis (did you know that he runs Mahalo?) have announced their second TechCrunch conference: the TechCrunch50, with 10 more companies than last year. The conference will be held over three days — overlapping Demo's fall event. Demo is the startup-launch Arrington and Calacanis are trying to compete against, their distinction being that all finalists are supposedly chosen by "merit," as they define it. The "merit" is so important that TechCrunch head Michael Arrington mentioned it twice in the 248-word announcement. I can't wait.

The three moneybags to pitch at Demo

Nicholas Carlson — Fri, 25 Jan 2008 17:20:34 EST

Another Demo is coming up this January 28-30. Smart startup founders will save their best pitches not for the bored audience — trust us, they'll all be ignoring you and sending BlackBerry emails. Instead, buttonhole the guys with money to spend, starting with reps from Google, Microsoft and Cisco. Here's who they're sending.

Name: Mark Arnold
Company: Cisco Systems
What he's shopping for:: Last year, Cisco Systems said it wants to acquire additional "Web. 2.0" technologies to help push the "consumerization of the enterprise."

Name: Karen Davis
Company: Google
What she's shopping for:: Everything and anything. Fortune notes Google has acquired nearly three dozen companies in the last three years. Why would it stop now?

Name: Don Dodge
Company: Microsoft
What he's shopping for: CEO Steve Ballmer recently said Microsoft plans to acquire 20 companies a year for the next 5 years. That should keep Dodge busy.

(Photo of money by amagill)

Fake Bono draws real pitches

Paul Boutin — Thu, 20 Dec 2007 12:59:38 EST

I finally got the story behind Bono's alleged appearance at the Demo tradeshow last year. MindTouch cofounder Aaron Fulkerson recruited the singer from a U2 tribute band — Pavel Sfera from San Diego-area Desire — to walk around the show floor and do his shtick for laughs. Sfera, shown here with telejourno Natali Del Conte, turned out even better than the real thing: He ad-libbed monologues about Mother Teresa, Desmond Tutu and Jesus all over the place. Because of the real Bono's role at Elevation Partners, and oh just maybe an oversized sense of their own importance, Demo attendees believed what they wanted to believe: Saint Paul of Clontarf had come by their show to check out their startup! Fulkerson had to hustle Sfera out of the show after founders began excitedly pitching him. "I've got a cure for hunger," one gushed. It involved Web page markup technology. (Photo by Brian Solis, I think)

This must be reuse-your-email week

Paul Boutin — Wed, 28 Nov 2007 17:54:53 EST

I got a free pass to DEMO! I was really happy — until I got to the last line of the attached email.

Sender: Erica Lee To: paul@paulboutin.com Subject: Invitation to DEMO 08 Hi Paul,
On behalf of DEMO Executive Producer Chris Shipley, I would like to invite you to attend DEMO 08, in Palm Desert CA, January 28 - 30.

[...]

Please join our exclusive audience of VCs, gurus, entrepreneurs and business executives as we spend two full days identifying industry trends and peeking into the future of technology innovation. We have a limited number of complimentary press passes and GigaOM has been selected to receive one. To sign up for your free pass, please contact me.

Why Demo's conference beat TechCrunch40

Owen Thomas — Fri, 28 Sep 2007 11:05:15 EDT

Techdirt, the ever-opinionated analysis blog, has weighed in and found Demo's lineup of startups and new products more compelling than last week's TechCrunch40. Why? Mike Masnick doesn't come out and say it, but his implication is clear: Unlike the parade of Web 2.0 one-note-Johnnies drummed up by TechCrunch editor Michael Arrington and entrepreneur Jason Calacanis, most of experienced Demo organizer Chris Shipley's picks were focused on useful improvements to existing technology, not gimmicky new ideas. Arrington and Calacanis launched TechCrunch40 because they felt that it was somehow wrong for conferences to charge startups to present. Nonsense, of course. I think that the fact that Demo charges presenters — reportedly $18,500 apiece — was actually what makes it a stronger event.

Remember when Bill Gross launched the search engine GoTo.com, later Overture, and shocked the industry by ranking listings by how much advertisers were willing to pay? At the time, his pay-per-click model was ripped apart as cynical and sleazy. But paid search ads, it turns out, were the right idea. The willingness of an advertiser to pay, among other factors, was actually a useful criterion for determining whether an ad might be effective, and it's a practice that's making billions of dollars for Google.

I think there's a similar effect here. There was no downside for TechCrunch40's presenting companies; if they gave a lousy presentation, all they wasted was the audience's time. One of the best-received startups was MusicShake. Note that MusicShake is based in South Korea, which means that its founders flew across the Pacific to make their debut, at considerable expense. They may not have paid Calacanis and Arrington anything, but unlike most of their peers, they actually had skin in the game.

Contrast that to the sloppy demos given by some Bay Area startuppers who only had to roll out of bed to get there — and looked like they just had.

By contrast, every company at Demo had some money at stake. It might not have been a big risk, but it was enough to make them take the event seriously. Shipley told me earlier this week:

Demo is involved in helping companies launch their products, and there are costs associated with that. That doesn't remove the hurdle of qualifying and being selected to participate. The fee is a commitment for a small company. It does signal a seriousness of intent — it is a bit of a bar for a company, and if you're able to clear that hurdle, that means that there's more at stake and the company is perhaps more viable.

Exactly right, of course. (More's the pity for the companies that tried to two-time Demo and got kicked out.)

The irony is that when I reported that DemoPit, TechCrunch40's for-pay sideshow that required startups to buy a ticket to the event, Calacanis blusteringly defended his event along much the same lines as Shipley, citing the costs of putting it on. Of course. But by making startups share those costs, Shipley is putting the invisible hand of capitalism to work as a useful sorting function. You know her companies won't waste your time. Why? They have money on the line.

Demo's outcasts revealed

Megan McCarthy — Mon, 24 Sep 2007 17:28:55 EDT

We hear there were actually two companies who chose to forgo this week's Demo conference and present at Jason Calacanis and Michael Arrington's TechCrunch40 conference instead. The startups in question? Media-sharing service Wixi has confirmed that they will not be presenting at Demo, and we hear that avatar service mEgo is also off the list. (Two flacks for mEgo didn'tt return our call from this morning and sent us straight to voicemail when we followed up a few minutes ago.) Both companies presented onstage during Tuesday afternoon's "Rich media and mashups" section. If Demo followed its usual cancellation policies, these companies would seem to have lost their $18,000 entrance fees. (Representatives for Wixi had no comment on the fee.) We hope these two companies were able to get a worthwhile experience from TechCrunch40. They may not have won the $50,000 grand prize, but they learned something about the value of a contract.

Who's not coming to Demo? The startup that got kicked out

Megan McCarthy — Mon, 24 Sep 2007 00:57:29 EDT

We hear that Chris Shipley and the rest of the Demo conference team are coming down hard on companies who violate their exclusive contract. A tipster "has it on on good authority" that one presenting company has been "yanked off the stage" at tomorrow's fall Demo conference in San Diego, because it demo'd its wares at Michael Arrington and Jason Calacanis's competing TechCrunch40 conference last week. No surprise there: The whole point of these startup-demonstration conferences is to show something new, and an already-launched product won't make the cut. But Shipley's crew is being especially tough: We hear that the company isn't gettting its $18,000 entrance fee back either. So who is the culprit? And did they make the main stage, or did they lose out on Demo just for debuting in TechCrunch40's also-ran DemoPit? If you know anything more, fill us in.

We have Demo's list — now what's the real surprise?

Owen Thomas — Fri, 21 Sep 2007 18:01:25 EDT

Well, that was much too easy. The organizers of the Demo conference, it turns out, have gone back on promises made on the website ("the list is not released prior to the conference") and has put the list of startups appearing at next week's event out in a press release. Bastards! The list is technically embargoed until Monday at 7 a.m., but if so, why'd they put it out on the Net? Well, it turns out that the secret secret is what the companies plan to demonstrate. So here's your chance to send in the real dirt: If you have the inside track on any planned demonstrations, send it in by Sunday. After the jump, the full list of companies.

DEMOfall 07 Demonstrators
360desktop, Pty Ltd.; Victoria, Australia; www.360desktop.com
Advanta; Spring House, PA; www.ideablob.com
AgendiZe; Grapevine, TX; www.agendize.com
Apprema, Inc.; Sunnyvale, CA;www.apprema.com
Attendi, Inc.; New York, NY; www.attendi.com
BatchBlue Software, LLC; Barrington, RI; www.batchblue.com
CashView, Inc.; Palo Alto, CA; www.CashView.com
Check Point Software Technologies, Ltd.; Redwood City, CA; www.checkpoint.com
ClipBlast!; Agoura Hills, CA; www.clipblast.com
coComment; Geneva, Switzerland; www.cocomment.com
CodaSystem France S.A.; Paris, France; www.shootandproof.com
CornerWorld; Dallas, TX; www.cornerworld.com
Digital Fountain; Fremont, CA; www.digitalfountain.com
Diigo, Inc.; Reno, NV; www.diigo.com
DimDim, Inc.; Burlington, MA; www.dimdim.com
earthmine, Inc.; Berkeley, CA; www.earthmine.com
EncryptaKey; Cypress, CA; www.encryptakey.com
Exalead, Inc.; New York, NY; www.exalead.com
FastCall411, Inc.; Hollywood, CA; www.fastcall411.com
Fluid Innovation, Inc.; Austin, TX; www.fluidinnovation.com
Fusion-io; Salt Lake City, UT; www.fusionio.com
Generate, Inc., Maynard, MA; www.generateinc.com
Glam Media; Brisbane, CA; www.glammedia.com
Global Communications, Inc.; Houston, TX; www.globalcasttv.net
Global Mobile Technologies, LLP; San Francisco, CA; www.push-it.com
Graspr, Inc.; Sunnyvale, CA; www.graspr.com
iForem, Inc.; Redwood Shores, CA; www.iforem.com
InstaColl; Bangalore, India; www.live-documents.com
Jasper Wireless; Sunnyvale, CA; www.jasperwireless.com
kannuu, Inc.; Dallas, TX; www.kannuu.com
LiveMocha, Inc.; Bellevue, WA; www.livemocha.com
LogMeIn, Inc.; Woburn, MA; www.logmein.com
LongJump; Sunnyvale, CA; www.longjump.com
matchmine, LLC; Needham, MA; www.matchmine.com
MetaRADAR, Inc.; San Bruno, CA; www.metaradar.com
mig33; Burlingame, CA; www.mig33.com
MotionDSP, Inc.; San Mateo, CA; www.motiondsp.com
mSpoke, Inc.; Pittsburgh, PA; www.mspoke.com
MuseStorm, Ltd.; Yahud, Israel; www.musestorm.com
Myndnet; East Palo Alto, CA; www.myndnet.com
Myxer; Deerfield Beach, FL; www.myxer.com
Ncursion; Carlsbad, CA; www.ncursion.com
PeopleJam, Inc.; Los Angeles, CA; www.peoplejam.com
Phreesia, Inc.; New York, NY; www.phreesia.com
PlanHQ; Wellington, New Zealand; www.planhq.com
Prolify, Inc.; Waltham, MA; www.prolify.com
Propel Software Corporation; San Jose, CA; www.propel.com
Proxure; San Luis Obispo, CA; www.proxure.com
Pudding Media, Inc.; San Jose, CA; www.thepudding.com
Quire, Inc.; Mountain View, CA; www.myquire.com
Qumranet; Santa Clara, CA; www.qumranet.com
Real Time Content, Ltd.; Ipswich, England; www.realtimecontent.com
RedSquare Ventures, Ltd.; Moscow, Russia; www.redsquareventures.com
RelevantMind, Corp.; Berkeley, CA; www.RelevantMind.com
SceneCaster; Richmond Hill, Canada; www.scenecaster.com
SpaceTime; New York, NY; www.spacetime.com
spigit; Pleasanton, CA; www.spigit.com
Sway, Inc.; Middleton; WI; www.shoutlet.com
Talari Networks, Inc.; Cupertino, CA; www.talarinetworks.com
Trovix; Mountain View, CA; www.trovix.com
Truphone; London, England; www.truphone.com
Tubes Networks, Inc.; Boston, MA; www.TubesNow.com
Tungle Corporation; Montreal, Canada; www.tungle.com
Vello; Mountain View, CA; www.myvello.com
Vitarati, Inc.; San Luis Obispo, CA; www.seenr.com
Vyro Games, Ltd.; Dublin, Ireland; www.vyro-games.com
WMS Gaming; Waukegan, IL; www.wms.com
Your Truman Show, Inc.; San Francisco, CA; www.YourTrumanShow.com
Yuuguu, Ltd.; Manchester, England; www.yuuguu.com

Send me Demo's secret startup list

Owen Thomas — Fri, 21 Sep 2007 15:32:44 EDT

Embargoes, in the age of instant journalism, are the silliest of PR conventions. In fact, they're counterproductive — especially for publicity-seeking startup conferences like this week's TechCrunch40 and next week's Demo, organized by Chris Shipley (left). And yet not everyone gets this. Blogger Paul Boutin sent TechCrunch40 organizer Jason Calacanis into a rage by committing an act of journalism: Going to the open site of the startup conference last Sunday and copying down, by hand, the names of the 40 startups due to present. What prompted Boutin to do this? Why, the organizers' ham-handed, ridiculous embargo demands.

The most ludicrous, self-defeating requirement — the one that prompted Boutin to detach himself from his keyboard and head downtown — was that journalists not publish the list until 9 a.m. Monday morning — a full two hours after TechCrunch itself said it would publish the list. Boutin, of course, did Calacanis a huge favor by doing so.

In reporting the publicly available list before TechCrunch40's unilaterally imposed embargo — an embargo, one should note, that Boutin never agreed to observe — Boutin actually gave TechCrunch40 a shot at gathering attention. Instead of being buried in the noontime news mix, the TechCrunch40 list hit the top of Techmeme first thing Monday morning.

So Boutin has inspired me. Shipley deserves the same kind of buzzmaking attention for her upcoming startup showcase. I know that the Demo lineup has been circulating. Why? Robert Scoble, for one, has been filming videoblog episodes with Demo participants all this week.

I can't make it down to San Diego, but if anyone gets their hands on the list, please drop me a line. Fair's fair. Help a girl out, won't you?

A Demo reunion in Palo Alto

Megan McCarthy — Wed, 15 Aug 2007 19:59:13 EDT

Through her Demo conference, Chris Shipley strands some of the most important people in tech together in the desert and forces them to pay attention to strange new ideas. It's like Burning Man without the playa dust and with much fancier drinks, or so I'm told. The experience is apparently scarring enough to bond people for life, judging by the palsy-walsy crowd of past Demo participants and guests who crowded into Palo Alto's Zibibbo restaurant Tuesday night to mingle and mix with other "alumni."

All of these parties are roughly the same, aren't they? Show up, get your nametag, politely chitchat with people while figuring out if you can use them to further your own ambitions, have a few free drinks, and then go in the corner to whip out your cellphone and send text messages to people you'd rather talk to.

But one thing made it different — the crowd Shipley attracts.

At least the Demo-alumni requirement scared off the worst of the usual crowd of hangers-on. The guests here were mostly entrepreneurs who actually have started a company or two, like Kim Polese, ex-CEO of Marimba, recently seen at last week's LinuxWorld conference, and Munjal Shah, CEO of Like.com, the latest incarnation of Riya. More than a few blogger/journalists personalities appeared, like Oliver Starr, late of TechCrunch offshoot MobileCrunch, currently with TechCrunch rival BlogNation, and new Rupert Murdoch underling Don Clark of the Wall Street Journal, who has an annual tradition of playing the Demo conference with his band.

And then there was a trifecta of Valleywag megafans: John Furrier, CEO of PodTech; Red Herring publisher Alex Vieux; and Barak Berkowitz, CEO of Six Apart. All three were delighted to see "Valleywag" on my nametag. Vieux couldn't wiggle away from me fast enough. "Ask Owen why I can't talk to you," Berkowitz snarled as he stalked away. Yet another example of Six Apart failing to engage in transparent communication, as far as I can tell.

The talk of the party, of course, was the looming shadow of next month's TechCrunch20 conference, the Demo copycat from TechCrunch editor Michael Arrington and Mahalo founder Jason Calacanis. Although I wonder if Chris Shipley and the rest of the Demo team should be as worried about the upstart conference as Arrington and Calacanis would like them to be. As one partygoer put it to me: "You know what they say, imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. Chris has a lot of imitators, like that one guy, oh, I'm blanking on his name ... TechCrunch ... Arlington, Michael Arlington."