words and pictures by Brian Solis
Allen Stern and Graeme Thickens weren’t the only two bloggers to attend both DEMOfall and TechCrunch50, I also made the journey between San Diego and San Francisco to cover both events. Like most media outlets, we had teams at both conferences, but I had to see for myself, what made each event unique and valuable.
TechCrunch50, dubbed the Sundance festival of the tech startup industry, is truly a special event. No matter how big it is, it’s still an intimate affair. You’re engaged because Michael Arrington and Jason Calacanis want you to be part of the conference.
statups + an active audience + expert judges + nervous and polished startup presenters = engagement. There’s just something for everyone.
My only request is that DEMO and TechCrunch fall on different days in 2009 so that I can invest 100% of time, focus, and energy in contributing to the success of each event.
Nonetheless, TechCrunch50 was a blast and I enjoyed every minute that I was to participate. I think that everyone who was there will agree, the hallway conversations, the DEMO Pit, the interactive presentations, and the parties espetially, have earned the TechCrunch conference a place the annual line-up of must-attend events.
I’ll let the pictures tell the rest of the story:
Sarah Ross and Ashton Kutcher
MG Siegler of VentureBeat
Frank Gruber
Adeo Ressi of TheFunded.com
Loren Feldman of 1938media
Ben Metcalfe
Rafe Needleman of WebWare/CNET
Evan Williams
Tim O’Reilly
Jason Calacanis
Stowe Boyd
Om Malik
Orli Yakuel
Michael Arrington
Swype
Swype
Dropbox
AlfaBetic
Don Doge
Mark Cuban and Jason Calcanis
Mark “when I die, I want to come back as me” Cuban
Day Two Party (sponsored by Symantec):
Mark Cuban and Brian Solis
Jason Calacanis at your service
Animoto
Marissa Louie
Larry Chiang
Time for the after party…
Jenny Chan of Mahalo
Bryan Thatcher of Empressr
Sloane Berent of CauseCast, Alaska Miller of Valleywag, and Jason Baptiste
For more pictures from TechCrunch50, please visit my albums on flickr:
Day Two
Day Two Party
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