Amid Conference Halls and Keynote Speakers, a Rivalry Forms
SAN FRANCISCO — A frequent ritual of Silicon Valley is the money-making gathering known as the technology conference, where investors, entrepreneurs and industry executives come together to strike deals, catch up on trends and engage in some nonvirtual networking.
But a noisy new entrant is disturbing this peaceful realm of croissants, keynotes and hallway handshakes. It has incited a bitter public dispute with a more established competitor over the most ethical way to run such a conference.
Demo, a 17-year-old conference franchise owned by the technology publisher IDG, has served as the springboard for hit products like the Palm Pilot and the TiVo digital video recorder. In San Diego during the second week of September, 70 start-ups will pay $18,500 each to make a six-minute presentation to a crowd of investors, journalists and others.
