18 Feb DEMO 2003 Closes with Focus on Collaboration and Communication
Scottsdale, AZ – DEMO 2003 continued to buzz with innovation and excitement on its closing day, focusing on a myriad of new technologies that included timely next-generation systems designed to protect and defend the national IT infrastructure as well as collaboration tools and evolving email services. In addition to an array of new product demonstrations, technology leaders discussed the possibilities for the next “big thing” in a morning panel devoted to the industry’s future.
A key focus of the afternoon session was Collaborate and Communicate, an examination of the software tools that will enable businesses to efficiently and effectively exchange information. Integral components of this session were Evolving Email, with demonstrations by Stata Labs, Oddpost and Open Field that uped the ante on email efficiency; Collaboration, with Tacit Knowledge Systems, WebEx and Kubi Software working to take knowledge sharing, groupware and conferencing into the new century; and Instant Messaging, focusing on the business benefits of IM demonstrated by ActiveBuddy and NetGen Video.
Other Highlights
Small Business Gets Big Attention – Ninety-plus percent of businesses fall outside the definition of “enterprise.”
Offering solutions for small businesses’ IT needs were:
AltiGen Communications AltiContact Manager, a call-center solution that puts enterprise-class telecommunications infrastructure in place to support small business telephone operations.
Succeed’s iBuilder which delivers a suite of e-Business tools that enable small businesses to quickly develop and deploy online sales and marketing strategies.
UpShot Corporation which demonstrated flexible, customizable sales and CRM software that cuts deployment from months to weeks, at a fraction of the cost of enterprise CRM and SFA applications.
Device Computing – Next generation computing goes beyond mobility and represents a new modality of interaction with information and with one another, all made possible by embedded computing and communications technologies.
Demonstrations were given by:
Eka Systems showed the EkaNet Device Networking Platform, which enables wireless devices to create a self-discovering and self- managing communications network.
IBM Research, which has made image recognition and language translation technology accessible via hand-held devices.
SupportSoft, which demonstrated a service solution that enables telecommunications carriers to provide user-friendly support for mobile devices in the field.
As the conference came to a close, Chris Shipley honored seven demonstrators for their outstanding presentations. Chosen for their style, passion, and clarity, these DEMO Gods(TM) have a unique ability to spot a great product and position it in the market, to show off it’s most compelling features, differentiate it from other products — and along the way entertain a tough and critical DEMO audience.
Congratulations to:
SupportSoft – For a very satisfying six minutes that left Chris Shipley blushing
Groxis – For helping us Grok information in new ways
Lifescape Solutions – If a picture is worth 1000 words, an easily shared picture is worth a DEMO God award
Mok3 – For revealing the woman behind the curtain
e-tractions – For proving that good ideas are always fashionable
Attitude LLC’s John Patrick – For being a DEMO trooper
Kubi Software – For taking collaboration to the next level.
Also honored for being good sports during the onstage spam fighter shootout were Cloudmark and Mail Frontier, who both received “spam awards.”
About the DEMO Conferences
The annual DEMO and DEMOmobile conferences focus on emerging technologies and new products, which are hand-selected by executive producer Chris Shipley from across the spectrum of the personal technology marketplace. The DEMO conference has earned its reputation as the singular event that consistently identifies tomorrow’s cutting-edge technologies. DEMO has served as a launch pad for companies such as Palm, E*TRADE, Handspring, and U.S. Robotics, helping them to secure venture funding, establish critical business relationships, and influence early adopters. DEMO is held in February each year and features approximately 60 new companies, products and technologies.
For more information, visit http://www.idgexecforums.com/demo. DEMOmobile, named “2002 Best Conference” by Conferenza, is held each fall and features approximately 30 new mobile technologies. For more information, visit http://www.idgexecforums.com/demomobile.
The DEMO community also benefits from the award winning DEMOletter(R) monthly and DEMOletter Weekly Edition(R) newsletters. Designed to reach the people who are creating companies, building products and launching new ideas, DEMOletter provides smart insight and analysis of entrepreneurial business issues.
About IDG
Network World, Inc. is a division of IDG, the world’s leading technology media, research and event company. IDG publishes more than 300 magazines and newspapers and offers online users the largest network of technology-specific sites around the world through IDG.net (http://www.idg.net), which comprises more than 330 targeted Web sites in 80 countries. IDG is also a leading producer of 168 computer-related expositions worldwide, and IDG’s research company, IDC, provides global market intelligence and advice through 51 offices in 43 countries worldwide. Company information is available at http://www.idg.com.