Tag Archives | Conferences

Twelve Ways to Ace a Product Demo–or at Least Avoid Flopping

Posted by Harry McCracken on September 22, 2009 at 3:35 pm

DEMO TechCrunchI’ve been a technology journalist for more than eighteen years now. A significant part of the job involves sitting through demos of new products and services I might want to write about. I’ve seen great demos. Good ones. Mind-numbingly bad ones. Bizarre ones. (Remind me to tell you about the time a product caught on fire in mid-demonstration.)

I figure I’ve witnessed at least 5,000 demos of hardware, software, and services so far, but I’m not sure if I’ve seen as many in so little time as I have over the past week as an attendee at both TechCrunch50 and DEMOfall, two conferences that both involve dozens and dozens of product launches. As I’ve sat here watching demos–including both really good ones and really bad ones–I’ve been mulling over the things that successful demos nearly always have in common. I’m documenting them here as a public service, or at least to get a few things off my chest.

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I’m Speaking at Chicks Who Click

Posted by Harry McCracken on August 10, 2009 at 11:28 am

Chicks Who ClickI’m not personally a chick, but many of the smartest people I know in technology are. And I’m happy to report that the folks at Chicks Who Click, a social networking organization, have asked me to moderate a panel on women in high-tech startups at their conference in San Jose on August 22nd. The panelists are Tara Anderson of Lijit, Emily Olson of Foodzie, and Suzanne Xie of Weardrobe. The whole conference should be both productive and a good time; more details, including registration info, are here.


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TWTRCON Hits the Nation’s Capital

Posted by Harry McCracken on August 5, 2009 at 8:00 am

Twtrcon DCBack in May, the first edition of TWTRCON–the conference on Twitter for business which I’m proud to have come up with–was held in San Francisco.  It was a hit. And Modern Media, the events’s organizers, are taking the show to Washington DC. TWTRCON DC 09 will be held at the Grand Hyatt Washington DC on October 22nd; the keynote speaker is Craigslist founder Craig Newmark, and folks from Dunkin Donuts, the NHL, H&R Block, Intuit, and PepsiCo have agreed to share their knowledge, with more to come. As before, the topic is how to leverage the power of Twitter to make your business more successful, but given the venue, there will also be discussion of Twitter and government.

It should be a productive, provocative time–I hope you’ll attend if you’d like to learn what some very smart people are doing with the country’s hottest social network. Check out the TWTRCON site for ongoing updates on plans for the event.

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Apple WWDC Live Coverage Tomorrow

Posted by Harry McCracken on June 7, 2009 at 10:55 am

Enough with the rumors, speculation, leaks, and spy photos–less than 24 hours from now, Apple will be kicking off its WWDC conference with a keynote address. Even in a worst-case scenario, there will be news about new stuff, and it will have one overriding benefit compared to the scuttlebutt to date: It’ll be factual!.

I’ll be in the audience at San Francisco’s Moscone Center, providing lickety-split live updates of the proceedings as they happen at www.technologizer.com/wwdc09. I hope you’ll join me at 10am PT, since I’m already curious about your take on the event and the revelations that come out of it, whatever they may be…

Apple WWDC 2009 Live Coverage

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Apple Rumors Build to a Crescendo

Posted by Harry McCracken on June 5, 2009 at 8:31 am

Apple LogoNo doubt about it–today is the Friday before a major Apple event (namely WWDC). I can tell because everywhere I look on the Web, I’m seeing last-minute rumors and predictions. Such as these:

The Wall Street Journal reports that Steve Jobs’ medical recovery is “coming along,” and that he’s expected to return to work later this month. It also broaches the possibility that he may appear at WWDC.

The Financial Times says that Apple is getting ready to release a cheap iPhone–at $99 or $149–and that it may debut on Monday.

The Unoffical Apple Weblog has received an anonymous tip that a new iPhone will be called iPhone Video.

TUAW also has a post about an Italian site’s alleged spy shots of a new iPhone that might have a front-facing camera.

AppleInsider says that placeholder listings for new 16GB and 32GB iPhones have appeared in the systems of British retailer Carphone Warehouse.

None of these sound inherently wacko or implausible (although if Steve Jobs shows up at WWDC I’ll be both startled and pleased). In a bit over 72 hours, we’ll know what transpired at WWDC–though I hereby predict that some people will immediately contend that any rumors that wasn’t confirmed by the WWDC keynote will come true at a later Apple event…

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Coming on Monday: Live WWDC Keynote Coverage

Posted by Harry McCracken on June 4, 2009 at 9:27 am

What’s Apple going to talk about at its WWDC keynote in San Francisco next week? Snow Leopard and iPhone OS 3.0, definitely. New iPhones, quite likely. Tablets and TVs and other dark horses, conceivably. Maybe. Well, probably not. But it’s not completely inconceivable.

I’m looking forward to being surprised–even if it’s by lack of surprise–and will be sitting in the Moscone Center audience as Phil Schiller and others take the stage at 10am PT on Monday. And I’ll provide live coverage of everything we learn as we learn it over at Technologizer.com/wwdc09. (If you’re the type who plans ahead, you can head there right now and sign up for an e-mail reminder.)

Meanwhile, I’m ending our Apple predictions survey at noon PT today, but it’s still open right now–if you haven’t taken it, please do so and get your chance at a $100 Apple gift certificate.

Apple WWDC 2009 Live Coverage

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TWTRCON Wrapup: Good Show, Everybody!

Posted by Harry McCracken on June 1, 2009 at 12:30 am

TWTRCONA couple of months ago, I had an idle thought: Wouldn’t it be cool if there was a conference that brought smart people together to figure out what Twitter means for businesses of all sorts and all sizes? The folks at Modern Media took my question and ran with it, and today TWTRCON SF 09 happened at the Hotel Nikko in San Francisco,. I’m biased, but I thought it was a hit; lots of folks who attended said they had a great time.

MC Hammer, Adventuregirl, and Gina SmithThe day was cohosted by Modern’s Tonia Ries and Gina Smith, and was packed with guests: prominent twitters like Laura (@pistachio) Fitton, MC Hammer, Guy Kawasaki, Dave McClure, Stefanie (@adventuregirl) Michaels, and Steve Rubel; journalists and writers including Shel Israel, Rafe Needleman, Jeremiah Owyang, Paul Saffo, and Kara Swisher; folks from Boingo, Cisco, Comcast, Dell, eBay, Intuit, Wells Fargo, and other major companies; Twitter companies such as CoTweet and HootSuite; Twitter’s Anamitra Banerji, and more. (That’s Hammer, Adventuregirl, and Gina in the photo at right, by Marie Domingo.)

Trending TopicsI had the interesting duty of being the conference’s official twitterer, and spent the day trying to convey the flavor of the event to those who couldn’t attend in person. I quickly discovered that I had lots of help, though–scads of folks inside the room and around cyberspace used the #twtrcon hashtag to share their thoughts on what the speakers had to say. The conversation was so spirited that our hashtag became the #1 trending topic on Twitter (see proof st right).

What did I take away from spending my Sunday thinking about Twitter? Lots of things, but here are some highlights:

  • It’s pointless to participate in Twitter unless you’re willing to be authentic and honest. And maybe a little funny, too.
  • For a business, participating in Twitter is an obligation; don’t do it unless you’re willing to dedicate the resources needed to do it right.
  • You’re not going to make money directly from Twitter. But you might engage your consumers (and mend fences with folks who don’t like your company) enough to see an impact on your revenue.
  • Twitter should ignore all the hubbub over whether it can make money and concentrate on growing, growing growing.
  • A few years from now, Twitter-like services may be so fundamental to communications that the notion of a conference dedicate to Twitter seems quaint.

Thanks to everyone who made TWTRCON a blast–organizers, speakers, attendees, and those who attended virtually via Twitter. Thinking of it was easy; you’re the guys who made it such a useful, engaging reality.

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Take Technologizer’s Apple WWDC Prediction Challenge

Posted by Harry McCracken on May 31, 2009 at 11:35 pm

Apple WWDC PredictionsAnalysts and other pundits do a lousy job of predicting what Apple will do next. Rumors about the company are often sheer fantasy. I’ve guessed wrong so many times that I’ve mostly given up trying. With Apple’s WWDC conference and its accompanying keynote a week away, what to do? Should we just swear off predictions altogether?

How about seeing if the collective Technologizer community–or any of its individual members–comes closer to telling us what Apple will unveil than your garden-variety professional Applewatcher probably will? That’s the idea behind our WWDC Prediction Challenge. Spend a few minutes taking our survey, and we’ll ask you about a bunch of possible announcements, including the likely (a new iPhone), the unlikely-but-tantalizing (a tablet), and the almost-certainly-not-for-one-reason-or-another (like new iPods). We’ll aggregate the results and see if there’s any consensus on what’s likely to happen, and publish a report before the keynote. Then we’ll publish another report after the keynote, grading the overall results. We might also mention any respondents whose predictions were eerily dead-on or otherwise interesting.

(Related shameless plug: I’ll be attending the WWDC keynote and will provide live coverage of what we learn as we learn it at www.technologizer.com/wwwdc09.)

The survey mostly involves multiple choice questions, but you’ll have the opportunity to make free-form predictions. For the most part, it involves matters other than the two topics which Apple has already told us it will discuss: the upcoming Snow Leopard OS and iPhone OS 3.0. Oh, and here’s one more incentive to participate: We’ll give one $100 Apple Store gift certificate away to a respondent in a random drawing.

Ready? Click here to take the WWDC Prediction Challenge.

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Technologizer Throws a Party

Posted by Harry McCracken on May 7, 2009 at 11:16 pm

T-TweetupIf you live in the Bay Area and are a FoT (Friend of Technologizer), read on: We’re throwing a party next Tuesday, May 12th from 5:30pm to 8:00pm at Nectar Wine Lounge and Restaurant, a very cool venue in Burlingame. We’re calling it Technologizer’s Tweetup, but Twitter newbies and skeptics are as welcome as hardcore Twitter addicts. The main goal of the night is simple: to relax, enjoy some good food and drink, and talk gadgets, the Web, social media, and all the other stuff we cover on this site. Consider it a sort of in-person edition of Technologizer.

If you’re reading this and can make it, you’re invited–although admittance is limited and on a first-come, first-served basis. Head to TTweetup.com to register.

Technologizer’s Tweetup is sponsored by eHow and by TWTRCON SF 09; the latter is the cool conference on Twitter and business that’s happening on May 31st in San Francisco. (I came up with the idea and will tweet the whole event.) You’ll have the opportunity to learn more about both at the Tweetup.

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