Thanks for the comments below, Tim. Here's the update as promised:
UPDATE: I’m still waiting on final numbers from CMP and Shorecliff, but anecdotal reports indicate the show’s attendance climbed from an approximate 2,300 attendees last year to closer to 3,000 this year, no small feat. Indeed, most executives I spoke with agreed TelcoTV is the premier show for all things IPTV. Some even like the venue, but I must humbly disagree with that sentimentâ€â€San Diego offered much more in the way of nightlife, and the venue accommodated the attendees with more space and fewer floor changes. So it's a mixed bag of reviews, as is the case with most shows. To hear the "old-timers" who attended the original show six years ago, which they tell me, consisted of a congregation of maybe 200 people around a few large tables. And as always, what's really important is the content. The show has provided grat fodder for discussion--my meetings were all charged with energy, mostly because of the surge in interest in Internet TV--it's certainly spread to TelcoTV, too.
Original Post: CMP recently acquired Shorecliff Communications, which is the company largely responsible for the TelcoTV show. Some industry trade groups help with the content, too. Many attendees are not happy with the show this year--less so than last year. Here are a few common gripes:
Some of the panels only have two speakers on them, and word is it's not by choice. The press room was also lacking a sponsor which is highly unusual for a conference of this sort. (I don't blame them, the press room is tiny compared to last year's.) I also heard attendance is down, but I don't have the exact figures yet, so I'll hold off from making leaping declarations there. On a final note, the conference is not in Dallas, Texas as I have said before. It's in Grapevine, Texas. We are a full 26 miles from the city, a fact not lost on attendees according to the taxi drivers here. They said passengers have been complaining all day about the convention center complex we're all trapped in out here in the 'burbs.