Comments on: When Conferences Collide http://www.stagetwoconsulting.com/when-conferences-conflict-76/ Open Marketing Wed, 23 Jul 2008 18:20:30 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.5.1 By: Does trust trump DEMO/TechCrunch50 fame? « Media - what is it good for! http://www.stagetwoconsulting.com/when-conferences-conflict-76/#comment-163 Does trust trump DEMO/TechCrunch50 fame? « Media - what is it good for! Fri, 04 Apr 2008 00:08:19 +0000 http://www.stagetwoconsulting.com/when-conferences-conflict-76/#comment-163 [...] translate into the business value they thought it would.  Jeremy has some good tactical advice here but I don’t think he addresses the relevance of these conferences [...] [...] translate into the business value they thought it would.  Jeremy has some good tactical advice here but I don’t think he addresses the relevance of these conferences [...]

]]> By: Scripting News for 4/3/2008 « Scripting News Annex http://www.stagetwoconsulting.com/when-conferences-conflict-76/#comment-162 Scripting News for 4/3/2008 « Scripting News Annex Thu, 03 Apr 2008 21:03:22 +0000 http://www.stagetwoconsulting.com/when-conferences-conflict-76/#comment-162 [...] happening the same week, at best I’m one of 120. I would rather, as Jeremey Toeman advises, roll my product out on a quiet week in the middle of summer when my product is the only new thing [...] [...] happening the same week, at best I’m one of 120. I would rather, as Jeremey Toeman advises, roll my product out on a quiet week in the middle of summer when my product is the only new thing [...]

]]> By: Jeremy http://www.stagetwoconsulting.com/when-conferences-conflict-76/#comment-161 Jeremy Thu, 03 Apr 2008 20:46:22 +0000 http://www.stagetwoconsulting.com/when-conferences-conflict-76/#comment-161 Josh - agreed! Scott - thanks for the comments, it's great to hear from someone who had such a good experience. I think you bring a valuable perspective to the discussion. My question/issue/concern is this: how many of the people you met with this year will be at the *right* conference in September? Not as easy to answer as it once was... I'm not anti-TC or anti-DEMO (for the right fit), I'm anti-messy overlapping conferences... Josh - agreed!

Scott - thanks for the comments, it’s great to hear from someone who had such a good experience. I think you bring a valuable perspective to the discussion. My question/issue/concern is this: how many of the people you met with this year will be at the *right* conference in September? Not as easy to answer as it once was… I’m not anti-TC or anti-DEMO (for the right fit), I’m anti-messy overlapping conferences…

]]> By: Scott http://www.stagetwoconsulting.com/when-conferences-conflict-76/#comment-159 Scott Thu, 03 Apr 2008 20:09:46 +0000 http://www.stagetwoconsulting.com/when-conferences-conflict-76/#comment-159 As someone who has showcased at Demo, I'd like to humbly disagree. After being on-stage at Demo, we had multiple acquisition offers and multiple term sheets from top-tier venture capitalists within three weeks of our presentation (we ultimately chose to be acquired). Here's the kicker: Prior to that, we tried to raise VC money for close to two years with no luck. Some of the people on my team (full time) hadn't been paid in almost a year. Some had to move back in with their parents (not an easy thing to do in your mid-30s!). It might not happen often, but it does happen. I can tell you with 100% certainty that, without that exposure, we would not have been able to continue on as a business. We emptied the remaining money from our bank account to attend Demo and it was the smartest move we ever made. As long as there are venture capitalists and companies looking to build "strategic relationships" in the audience, then I would recommend thinking about the money spent as an "investment" that is risky but has great upside potential. One last thing: I think Demo will eventually have to reduce the price they charge startups -- they should even consider paying startups to present in my opinion. Their pricing pre-dates the world of blogs, TechCrunch, etc. Demo, along with PC-Forum, used to be the only way for someone without connections to get noticed. Now, not so much. As someone who has showcased at Demo, I’d like to humbly disagree. After being on-stage at Demo, we had multiple acquisition offers and multiple term sheets from top-tier venture capitalists within three weeks of our presentation (we ultimately chose to be acquired). Here’s the kicker: Prior to that, we tried to raise VC money for close to two years with no luck. Some of the people on my team (full time) hadn’t been paid in almost a year. Some had to move back in with their parents (not an easy thing to do in your mid-30s!).

It might not happen often, but it does happen. I can tell you with 100% certainty that, without that exposure, we would not have been able to continue on as a business. We emptied the remaining money from our bank account to attend Demo and it was the smartest move we ever made.

As long as there are venture capitalists and companies looking to build “strategic relationships” in the audience, then I would recommend thinking about the money spent as an “investment” that is risky but has great upside potential.

One last thing: I think Demo will eventually have to reduce the price they charge startups — they should even consider paying startups to present in my opinion. Their pricing pre-dates the world of blogs, TechCrunch, etc. Demo, along with PC-Forum, used to be the only way for someone without connections to get noticed. Now, not so much.

]]> By: Josh Dilworth http://www.stagetwoconsulting.com/when-conferences-conflict-76/#comment-156 Josh Dilworth Thu, 03 Apr 2008 16:17:52 +0000 http://www.stagetwoconsulting.com/when-conferences-conflict-76/#comment-156 Jeremy -- great comments and they make a lot of sense in my opinion. Will be very interesting to see how this plays out. "The true costs of either are well higher than the attendance fees. . ." -- this is the truth. What startups in my experience spend to launch at a TC40 or DEMO goes far beyond the attendance/participation fee (or lack thereof). But more than anything, you're spot-on in saying that there are no guarantees in marketing -- it all has to do with how well you execute, as with everything else. Even within the DEMO and TC40 companies last year there was a great degree of stratification in terms of momentum coming out of the conference(s). Some of that was purely driven by the quality of the products, but in most cases a lot of it had to do with execution on the marketing front. Launching at either conference doesn't guarantee exposure, momentum, funding, or overall success -- like everything else, these are hard-won with sweat, gumption, stubbornness, passion and an unflinching ability to assess what is and is not working at a given juncture. Jeremy — great comments and they make a lot of sense in my opinion. Will be very interesting to see how this plays out. “The true costs of either are well higher than the attendance fees. . .” — this is the truth. What startups in my experience spend to launch at a TC40 or DEMO goes far beyond the attendance/participation fee (or lack thereof). But more than anything, you’re spot-on in saying that there are no guarantees in marketing — it all has to do with how well you execute, as with everything else. Even within the DEMO and TC40 companies last year there was a great degree of stratification in terms of momentum coming out of the conference(s). Some of that was purely driven by the quality of the products, but in most cases a lot of it had to do with execution on the marketing front. Launching at either conference doesn’t guarantee exposure, momentum, funding, or overall success — like everything else, these are hard-won with sweat, gumption, stubbornness, passion and an unflinching ability to assess what is and is not working at a given juncture.

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