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DEMO and paying to show

Fred Oliveira on February 14, 2006

Peter Van Dijck nails it in 2 sentences:

At DEMO, they’re charging US$ 15,000 to do a demo (…). In other words, DEMO is only for VC companies, not web 2.0 companies (who are supposed to do without VC cash, right?).

DEMO’s not the only case of conferences where you need to pay to play, but if the whole thing is about the companies and products, shouldn’t money flow the other way around - or just not between conference and speakers?

Without companies, there would be no conference. Maybe I’m seeing things from the wrong perspective here, but I’d much rather go to an event where companies were invited for their merits instead of the money they can cash out in order to tell me how great they are.


Comments on this post

Aaron Post

I agree, the biggest problem I have with DEMO is that I live in Phoenix and did not hear about it until 2 days after it was over. Strange I thought, until I saw that it cost $2500 to get into the expo and walk around.

When and Where did DEMO get started, I have never even heard of it until this year. Based on what I am seeing, the VC’s can keep the show to themselves, there are far more inovative ideas on Emily Chang’s eHub.

cash til payday

cash til payday cash til payday

It’s DemoWeek « Scobleizer - Tech Geek Blogger

[...] I see over on the Webreakstuff blog that Fred says that Demo is only for VC’s cause they charge companies to get on stage. [...]

Dan Ciruli

Despite what you may think, DEMO exhibitors aren’t admitted based on their checkbooks. Companies apply to exhibit, and those that show a potential to be groundbreaking in their field are invited to exhibit. Only around 10% who apply are actually accepted–it’s pretty darn difficult (I think 10% is close to Harvard’s acceptance rate).

Once there, DEMO does everything it can to prevent the big companies from outspending the little companies: no big expensive booths, everyone just gets a table. The demos themselves are identical (6 minutes in length).

To respond to Aaron: last year was DEMO’s 15th year. Chris Shipley, the organizer, is a tech luminary. She’s well known for her ability to spot trends. Some huge successes have come out of DEMO: Java, TiVo, and Palm, for example (all before their products were launched, as per the rules of the event).

Full disclosure: my company was invited last year.

Webreakstuff » Finally someone breaks a few DEMO bones

[...] I love the conference space, and I love startups. Thats why it keeps shocking me that startups are being extorted to present at DEMO like it’s going to make their whole business. Seriously (and I’m being 100% personal on this one), it pisses me off. And I posted about this (with Scoble agreeing) about a year ago. [...]

tivo - uttaruk.com » Webreakstuff » DEMO and paying to show

[...] Original post by Webreakstuff and software by Elliott Back   [...]

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