I'm trying to complie a list of the most important, must-attend conferences in technology. Especially for entrepreneurs. If you have any to suggest, please let me know.
I will start building this with conferences that are coming up soonest, and try to add one a day.
September 09
DEMOfall 09 -- September 21-23, Sheraton San Diego Hotel & Marina, San Diego
Price: $2495 - $2995
Producer: Chris Shipley, DEMO
Focus: Pitches by entrepreneurs launching new products
This year's theme: Adding: "alpha pitch" from not-quite-ready-to-launch companies.
Looks inside R&D labs from universities and big companies.
Lifetime Achievement Award.
What you get: Pitches from entrepreneurs hoping to impress. Judges critiquing the
pitches. DEMOGod awards. Demo pavilion. Speakers. Networking
dinners and cocktails.
Impressive speakers: Lots of up-and-coming entrepreneurs.
Lifetime Achievement Award Winners:
Marc Benioff, founder, CEO Salesforce.com.
Donna Dubinsky, Founder, CEO & Board Chair, Numenta.
Andy Rubin, Cofounder, Danger Inc.,
currently Vice President, Engineering, Google.
Comments: Last time Chris Shipley manages the conference. Being taken over by
Matt Marshall. Still the place to go for new launches.
October 2009
Web 2.0 Summit -- October 20-22, Westin Hotel, San Francisco
Price: $4195 (An invitation-only event. You've gotta get on somebody's list.)
Focus: Discussions from industry leaders on the future of the Internet
sensors, platforms for collective action, "data shadows" left behind by
people and things on the Web.
What you get: On-stage presentations, "Show-me" presentations, plenary sessions,
networking.
Impressive speakers: Carol Bartz, CEO, Yahoo
Mary Meeker, Managing Director, Morgan Stanley
Paul Otellini, President, CEO, Intel
Tim Berners-Lee, Director, W3C
Comments: A good and interesting conference. Good on-stage interviews with speakers; some interviewers too soft, but also some journalists asking the tough questions. A few speeches that tend to be too self-serving. But overall insightful, interesting conference.
