Kara Visits Demo09!
by Kara Swisher
Posted on March 3, 2009 at 10:00 AM PT
There was no doubt, given the continuing economic collapse and all the joy that brings, that Demo09 was going to be a much tamped-down and sober affair this year.
But there are still a lot of interesting start-ups being featured in the main ballroom and demo “pit,” such as a cool “touch book” offering, a strange hooking-up-in-a-bar smartphone app and a plethora of ideas that obviously got their inspiration from the iPhone from Apple (AAPL).
As in: touch, swipe, interact! (Which is the official BoomTown motto, in point of fact.)
Demo Executive Producer Chris Shipley is still running the show. But VentureBeat founder and Editor-in-Chief Matt Marshall will take over the longtime, semiannual conference–where several dozen start-ups strut their stuff in front of an industry crowd–in 2010.
Here is the video I did of the event, which was held in Palm Desert, Calif., and ends today. It includes serial entrepreneur Mitch Kapor, PR guy Brian Solis and All Things Digital Co-Executive Editor Walt Mossberg.
