DEMO: The Launchpad for Emerging Technology

 If you’re launching the Next Big Thing, you need a big venue

It’s where ambition meets ignition. It’s where Show-and-Tell meets Show-Me-the-Money. DEMO 09 is the one technology conference that can truly accelerate your business.

Unlike other trade shows and events, DEMO is all about products. It’s a level playing field. It’s a launching pad. There are no motivational speakers or how-to seminars. This is where the world-wide press, decision-making investors and market-defining visionaries come together. And in this fusion is the pure power to soar. Consider the numbers:

A fire hose of great media

For the 70 companies launching their new product innovation—and often times their new company, the six minutes of DEMO time leads to well over 200 million media impressions due to coverage of the show.  Over 500 news articles and blog posts are published within days of the show. That’s unprecedented media exposure.

Additional media exposure through IDG

On top of that, demonstrators will also benefit from a multi-million dollar media program and worldwide content syndication package provided by DEMO’s parent company, IDG, one of the largest technology media companies in the world. IDG puts the exposure and reach of its leading technology media brands behind the products launching at DEMO 09 to expose your launch to the 140 million technology buyers who visit an IDG Web site or read one or more IDG publications each month.

Truly phenomenal exit results

In the past four years alone, more than 40 DEMO companies have been acquired (including 25% of 2004 and 20% of the 2005 DEMO classes have already been acquired). More mature demonstrators have enjoyed record-breaking successes. In 1999, WebEx was acquired by Cisco for $3 billion. In 2000, VMware enjoyed a $975 million IPO—for only part of the company—the biggest tech IPO after Google. In 2003, Ironport gets bought by Cisco for $830 million.

A history of success

DEMO has a 19-year track record of success—hosting 29 DEMO events to date (including DEMO, DEMOmobile and DEMOfall), 15,000 conference participants and over 1,500 successful product launches culled from more than 20,000 applications and interviews.

DEMO 09 demonstrators also benefit from:

Demonstrator Pavilion

In addition to their stage presentation, companies who present at DEMO 09 get a chance to soar in the Demonstrator Pavilion, where products may be test-driven and further showcased.

Unlike at tradeshows, no demonstrator can dominate the conference with marketing collateral, signage, whiz-bang graphics, and alluring giveaways. The professionally managed and ergonomic Demonstrator Pavilion is a level playing field. And there is no bad spot on the floor.

For each demonstrating company, DEMO provides a standard kiosk, signage, profile in DEMO handbook, Internet connection, power, and furniture to ensure everyone has the same visibility. The keeps the attention laser focused on the products, not on the size of the booth, funding, or corporate backing.

It also creates a perfect environment to network, research, form meaningful and strategic relationships, and—yes—even close some deals. Here, investors and potential partners can get a close up look at the latest trend-setting technologies. It’s not just a place for more face time but for more eyes-on-the-product time. And as a result, who knows what partnerships may arise as demonstrators collaborate amongst themselves?

“The Pavilion is where the real action of the conference takes place,” says Executive Producer Chris Shipley. “Where attendees can speak one-on-one with the innovators behind the new technology products and where companies can dive deep into the inner workings of their products."

CEO & Dealmakers Dinner

Join Chris Shipley, top venture investors and corporate dealmakers, and the CEOs from other demonstrating companies for an exclusive networking event designed to introduce and engage the leaders of our demonstrator class with the investment community attending the event.  

A custom micro site

Each demonstrator receives a micro site built and hosted on DEMO.com to showcase your company profile, contact information, news and comments and six minute launch video. Each micro site is used as a landing page for technology buyers to learn more about your product, people and company. Your search-engine optimized site will be actively promoted in the six months after the event and kept up and active on the site for many years after your launch.

Content syndication opportunities

News content generated by IDG journalists at DEMO is syndicated to the 140 million IDG subscribers/site visitors worldwide through the IDG News Service—the world’s leading daily source of global IT news, commentary and editorial resources, serving more than 300 IDG publications and 400 Web sites in more than 50 countries worldwide.

Direct marketing campaign opportunities

Demonstrator content, videos and micro sites are promoted through IDG’s consolidated e-mail database to more than 1.3 million active enterprise and consumer technology buyers. Additionally, similar outreach is made to the 1.2 million readers of various technology newsletters available from a select group of IDG brands. DEMO reaches out to this combined group of over 2.5 million potential customers to promote the companies and products launched at DEMO 09.

Professional DEMO support

Our staff ensures you're prepared for your demonstration with thorough and insightful pre-conference and on-site PR support, presentation coaching, A/V support, complimentary PR Newswire “online news kit,” and accommodating demonstrator workstations with power, signage, and Internet connectivity. DEMO invests over 1 million dollars in the production of each event to ensure your 6 minutes go off without a hitch.

More importantly, the benefits of demonstrating at this conference continue long after the show thanks to special conference features designed to drive visibility for years to come.

Compare DEMO to other alternatives

To be sure, an $18,500 presenter fee is a considerable investment. But when you consider the benefits, the exposure, and the venue, it's actually a very cost-effective one.

Because it attracts the best media, venture capitalists, technology business development professionals, and corporate IT professionals, the DEMO conference packs a lot of opportunity into just two days.

DEMO vs. conducting a press tour

The fee to demonstrate at DEMO costs about the same as sending three executives around the country to conduct a two or three city press tour. However, such a press tour results is merely 8 to 10 meetings. At DEMO, 75-100 journalists attend, all eager to investigate new technologies. Additionally, DEMO yields potential customers, partners, and investment funding—something a press tour does not.

DEMO vs. having a trade show booth

Your DEMO fee is a less than a fifth of the cost of attending a tech trade show such as CES or Interop. Yet, DEMO offers an intimate environment where you can begin relationships with influential IT buyers, media, VCs and potential partners and customers. Trade shows, however, can be chaotic, impersonal, and fruitless. What's more, each DEMO attendee is actively involved in the tech industry; deals are often struck on the spot or in the few weeks immediately following the conference. Trade shows, on the other hand, are attended by scores of people who cannot help you, making show-me-don't tell-me demonstrations a gamble.

DEMO vs. producing a proprietary press event

A proprietary press event that can attract 60+ journalists is an extremely expensive and time-consuming proposition—if your PR team can pull it off in the first place. Once you include costs for space rental, giveaways, marketing/PR/speaker consultant support, and catering, you could be easily into six-figure expenditures.

And such outlays don't always buy credibility. Selection to participate in DEMO provides instant prestige and cachet. It also can give you a tremendous amount more media coverage—over 200 million media impressions in local, national and global broadcast outlets, major metropolitan newspapers, consumer magazines, and technology and business trade publications.