I was pulling up some more baseboard and lo and behold found some more newspaper shoved behind the baseboard. This time however the baseboard seemed to be stuck in place with clear caulking, which made it somewhat more difficult to pull up.

I think I know the cause  - around that time (1990) the federal government gave grants for “draft proofing” houses, so probably the old owners got a couple of tubes of caulking and put it down to try and reduce the gale force winds that whip through the walls.

Problem is that the holes where the subfloor joins the walls are rather too large for caulking so the newspaper (The Toronto Star) was shoved in their to slow the air movement. “Hey if it was good enough for 1925” (when I think this house was built) “it’s good enough for us.”

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• “French advertiser Eurocom seeks international market;”
• “Japanese bring life to deteriorating British tire factory;”
• “Economist Wendy Dobson has international outlook.”

And my favorite: “Videonet arrives” – a story about how this Canadian offshoot of the American company Videonet will spend $2M in 1990 to introduce a range of services including banking, information, education and entertainment services using Bell Canada’s Alex network. Interesting to see how this proprietary network never really got off the ground and was absolutely rendered inconsequential by the commericalization of the Internet.

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This year since I wasn’t able to attend I got online and used the live stream and facebook integration to see the presenters and get a real sense from the chatter on the facebook widget, what people thought of the presentations. As usual my hunches were right! There were a few demos that stood out for their value propositions (that is their approach to solve a customer pain point), and some which were not so good. Sometimes its just the presenter which is awkward; sometimes the product/service is something that you’d question the need for;  often a combination of both.

I always like this conference as the pace and structure is different from most that you attend. It goes like this: there are sometimes 80 presenters over the 2 day event and each presenter gets 6 minutes on stage in front of all of the conference attendees to explain their product/service and demonstrate how it works. Hence the name “Demo.”

This year it seemed like the energy level was a bit low compared to my previous visits and I won’t ascribe that to the economy, but maybe to the fact that Demo creator Chris Shipley is passing on the reins after this conference to Matt Marshall, co-executive producer.

Here is a quick rundown on the morning’s sessions-

Pixetel- adds voice and video interactivity to emails, plays in any browser. Users can also send as secure links / email. You can verbally and visually explain spreadsheets, drawings, designs, proposals… anything on your screen. This was something that people online in the chat seemed to think was interesting and even though has been done in other applications, its good to see it brought to email

Rallypoint – End-end Enterprise crisis management platform, but through the demo, didn’t really get a clear sense of the service until almost the end of the presentation.

Vokle-  This company’s service is about adding live communications to the web. It adds an ability to discuss news/submissions live sort of like a video chat room. [Might be good for an enterprise?]

Gwabbit- We’ve all been there: cutting and pasting each line of a signature in an email to put into your address book. This service scans emails and moves contact info to address book with a single click, but isn’t this more of a feature than a service? Shouldn’t Microsoft buy them?

CC:Betty- In an interesting approach to bringing some more innovation to the email application (since Gmail who has really changed the paradigm?) This service brings content and items from email to web interface (They called it Facebook for email). I think this could be a great app from a network point of view.

Citrix-“GoView” – This company wants to make screen recordings so simple your mother could use the service. (Why is everyone so disparaging of mothers?) Its still not that simple to use. My mom would have walked away long ago.

Zuora-  There are lots of Facebook apps and lots of Developers and the “Z-commerce platform” allows them to monetize their apps. But I guess the question is, how many people would want to pay for the apps?

Document Depository Corp –  This application is all about managing important documents like Corporate Governance and legal processes. Important for sure, but didn’t get a sense of excitement from the demo.

Home accounts – If consumers had this service before the credit crisis, maybe we wouldn’t be in such a state now. It gives applicants a sense of the most appropriate (re: money saving)  mortgage for their situation. They are independent and not funded by the banks so can give (hopefully) less biased advice.

Zipadi- A publishing platform to convert paper catalogue to ecommerce site. Hmm, hasn’t this been done before?

7billion people- (weblegend) person sales tactics; can change tactics in real time. Click stream based analysis of behaviour and site customization. Neat and they demo’d using the Amazon site even though Amazon is not their customer. [How’d they do that?]

Liquid media-personalize advertising not sure how it works- is it voice mail only?

So a full slate in the morning and I will try to get a handle on the afternoon sessions as well.

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It seems like collaboration is no longer a nice to have but a feature that is really becoming standard when it comes to online products. Notably, Cozimo, LiquidPlanner and some others are taking it to a new level as they are allowing simultaneous work across multiple locations which points to the new, geographically dispersed nature of projects these days. And LiquidTalk allows simultaneous translation across differerent groups all within an IM client.

Social media as a concept is also being rolled up into all products; so much so that Demo is going to stop having a separate grouping for these products. How’s that for validation of a concept?

Gadgets and devices are still around (even thought sometimes it feels like all the services are being delivered inside the browser). Livescribe‘s pen

Livescribe’s Pen.

brings your voice (or any audio) to the printed page. Even translation of words into other languages!

And for another audience alltogether (kids 4-8) Leapfrog‘s tag system (available Nationwide in June ’08) gives little ones the ability to interact with books with audio and music with their pen-like reader.

Green has to get bigger at Demo and the buzz around the pavilion was that having only two companies there representing the category was a real letdown. There have got to be more worthy companies out there (besides the great offering from Celsius and GreenPlug.) With the amount of monitors and cpu’s buzzing over the sessions, there is growing awareness of the impact of this sector.

Video is not just for broadcasters anymore and although we’ve know this for a while, there are a bunch of new tools out there (VisibleMeasures, TubeMogul) which help monetize and analyze online video for publishers, be they consumers or national brands.

And of course, the web is a Web 2.0 (sorry couldn’t resist) playground as everything is and can be, mashed up together. One service (Flypaper) even allows searching and viewing of flickr photos right from inside their application. Sprout brings the power of custom flash applications to a wider audience with their cool builder application which allows users to create cool flash apps right from inside their browser. No download needed.

But my concern as always with these new services is how they will sustain themselves over the long term to support their rapid advancement and integration of really fantastic functionality. I have heard that funding for “Ad-supported” services has tapered off over the past 6 months or so, and if that is the case, what other type of subscription, transaction or other models are out there?

For other views on this check out ZDnet and Rafe’s column.

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The last afternoon sessions are hard as a lot of people have mentally checked out, so it is hard to keep peoples attention. Some guys came out and smashed a server with a sledgehammer (that got people’s attention) as well as one with a dog (yes, a real live dog) that fetched the presenter’s slippers. (?)

A couple of  highlights include Yoics which can connect formerly ‘unconnected’ devices like cameras and your pc to a mobile device.

Not Business as Usual

Forget heavy-weight applications, complicated deployments, and astronomical capEx bills. Software is getting out of the way and letting businesses small and large get things done. Demonstrations by: 

  The Infrastructure for Next-Generation WebToday’s Web delivers applications and services in type and volume well beyond those initially imagined by those who designed the protocols, laid out the infrastructure, and conceived the use cases that would be the modern Web.  These new applications are stressing the capabilities of the Internet, so new technologies are coming to the rescue to retrofit the Web to support next-generation applications.Demonstrations by:

  Search PartyThe search market is moving in two directions:  one leverages human know-how to curate content, the other tunes smart algorithms to identify and categorize content into discernable results.  We explore both as viable means to find the needle of information in the haystack that is the repository of the Internet.Demonstrations by: 

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The Revolution Will Be Broadcast on the WebThe demand for rich video content places big demands on content producers and the networks that distribute their product. It also opens the imaginations of individuals to become creators as well as consumers of video content.Demonstrations by:

 The Social WebIt’s redundant, really.  Since the first pages were linked, people have been the driving force of the Web.   The difference is that today, people – rather than pages – are the center point of every application.  The Web really has become the greatest social experiment ever attempted.Demonstrations by:

  And the Revolution Will Be Paid for by AdvertisingYou thought you’d escape advertising by shifting your viewing from television to the Web.  Think again. And as Web video ads gain momentum, tools to manage and measure video advertising are in demand.Demonstrations by:

  At your ServiceTechnology should just work.  But, of course, it doesn’t.  We’ve become incredibly dependent on technologies that are inherently frail.  Whether an IT profession responsible for maintaining the infrastructure or you or me needing to keep our own computers running, we’ll all be gratified to see new scrutiny paid to the important area of product service and support.Demonstrations by:

 A Different Spin on ServiceService is also what we do for others and this demonstrator is all about helping people find volunteer opportunities in their local communities.Demonstration by:

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Chris Shipley noted that: “Simplicity on the other side of complexity. Making really hard stuff simple.”

A real cool demo was Sprout, that allows you to create flash widgets without being a flash programmer.

Simplify, Simplify

He wasn’t much of a technologist, but Henry David Thoreau had the right idea. We make our lives easier, and arguably better, by using products that wrap complexity and capability in simple designs and interfaces. DEMO will continue to beat the drum for practical products that work well, hide complexity, and make our professional and personal lives more enjoyable.

Demonstrations by:

Content Made Easy

As consumer-generated content become de rigor, we’ll want tools and techniques to create and deliver better looking, more stylish and professional content. Whether it’s presenting materials at work, delivering messages to friends and customers, or distributing content, these products give individuals the ability to communicate like pros.

Demonstrations by:

It’s Easy Being Green

Over decades, the technology industry has had a profound negative impact on the environment. With greater awareness, the industry is also poised to have a profound positive effect as well. We’re watching for products, technologies and services that are responsible to the environment and sustainable in the economy, with an eye toward a future DEMOgreen event.

Demonstrations by:

On Research: Turning Ideas into InnovationsSponsored by The Kauffman FoundationAcademic research centers are fertile ground for discovery of some of the Next Very Big Things. With the support of the Kauffman Foundation, DEMO is again reaching deep into the academic community to identify innovators working on some very big ideas.Panelists:

Steven M. Barlow , PhD., Professor, SPLH
Programs in Neuroscience, Human Biology, and Bioengineering
Director, Communication Neuroscience Laboratories, University of Kansas

Ronald Indeck , PhD., The Das Family Distinguished Professor of Electrical Engineering, School of Engineering and Applied Science, Washington University, St. Louis

Yannis Papakonstantinou , Professor, Computer Science and Engineering, School of Engineering, University of California, San Diego and Founder, app2you.comThis discussion with the two academics went on a bit too long and I got the sense that audience was tuning out.Virtualization . . .

Virtualization technology is at the center of more secure, more stable, more scalable IT infrastructure. These two products are leading that trend.

Demonstrations by:

…. In a Virtual World

From virtual IT infrastructure to virtual entertainment . . . why indulge someone else’s second life when you can build a second, or third, life of your own?

Demonstration by:

See it again for the first time

You may think you know these products, but we invite you to take a closer look, as each demonstrator unveils a new aspect that brings new dimension and import to these emerging products.

Demonstrations by:

Demonstration by:

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The day is broken up into groupings and the first one is entitled:

“We’re Not Just Conference Producers, We’re Customers”Every product we select for DEMO is intrinsically valuable. Each will find customers, from enterprise IT professionals at work to families and friends at home. Yet, in every screening cycle, we find a handful of products that we want or need for ourselves. Here are a few from this year’s crop.Demonstrations by:

Commercial break with a Heinz commercial (Message in a bottle), which segues nicely into the next topic area called:

Message in a Bottle“Well, maybe not in a bottle, exactly, but communication is the centerpiece of every modern application. These products drive to the vision of seamless, integrated communication capabilities for personal and business applications. Demonstrations by:

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Here is the schedule for the first day.

People starting to arrive for first day’s sessions.

['The number of iPhones here is pretty overwhelming, but I'd expect it with this crowd. ]

Chris Shipley (Host and founder of Demo) gives a brief kick off talk:

Her update on state of industry:

·         77 demos this week out of hundreds that applied; representative of the market and direction

·         Why 77? Not really driven by raw numbers, but only want to present best products and wide range of ideas

·         Can’t just show Web2.0 products but it has to represent broader industry

·         All products are interrelated; Demo is about seeing connections where maybe none were apparent before.

·         All of us are driving new products and concepts, we create a new opportunity and put more demands on infrastructure or security etc. met by many of products here

·         More reliable CDNs, or security; whatever it is should be driven by customers

·         Software on the web often better than many of the business apps we use today; the general web and interface experiences have upped our expectation. Why the slow response and bad user experience from Enterprise tools like SAP?

·         We can get these web tools without a requisition, they are just available and people in the Enterprise are starting to use them as they help get work done more effectively (like Basecamp?!)

·         Communication- text, voice, video need to be part of all applications- seamlessly

·         We as consumers are challenging s/w and h/w providers to make it easier and easier.

·         We are defined by technology we use – but we need to drive good user experience for ourselves. The experience will matter more and more

·         How will you deliver experience to our customers?

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A few that I will be talking to include a content delivery network startup called BitGravity for a while (and also Squidcast which allows users to share HD video in a P2P environment!) and definitely Ribbit which allows developers to add voice quickly and easily to their applications. It “lets you make and receive multi-protocol calls via Flash-based phones, provides speech-to-text message transcriptions and provides an open message management environment – all built using Ribbit’s open APIs. ” I will have to ask them about their business model… Giga Om’s NewTeeVee has some Day One coverage here.

Demo is trying something a bit different this year; along the lines of CES they are trying assemble some companies around the “Green” concept; but there are only two of them this year. Sounds like they are going to start up a potentially new conference in the future called “DemoGreen” but have to wait and see how that pans out.

My question is around the whole impact of this show. Given that it is in the desert and most of the companies here are using electricity to power their demos, could the show have considered some offsets to somehow mediate their impact on the environment? Aren’t most shows doing something like this now?

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