High Rollers Converging On cdXpo

With just ten days to go, Jupitermedia Friday said momentum is quickly
growing for its inaugural Enterprise IT Week event at cdXpo.

The four-day exhibition and conference, which is produced by the parent company of this Web site, brings together IT professionals to focus on five conference areas: a Jupiter Research Symposium, an Enterprise Executive track, a Developer track, a Web Services/Security track, and a Hardware & Systems track focused on storage in the entertainment industry. There are also some 50 different companies currently scheduled to demonstrate their wares on the exhibit floor.

The show is the brainchild of Jupitermedia CEO Alan Meckler, whose
weblog has gained international notoriety. Meckler says much of the show’s momentum has come with the almost weekly addition of high-profile speakers who once graced the halls of Comdex, which is scheduled for the same week in Las Vegas.

“Jupitermedia has faced terrific odds in launching an event opposite
Comdex, but the industry’s actions certainly indicate validation of our
event,” said Meckler. “We cannot wait for the show to begin and to start
marketing cdXpo for both coasts starting in 2004.”

For Jupitermedia’s Las Vegas event at the new 1.8 million square foot
Mandalay Bay Convention Center and hotel campus, the keynote list runs like
a who’s-who of the IT world including:

  • Peter Blackmore, Executive VP, Enterprise System Group,
    Hewlett-Packard

  • Mark Straton, Senior VP, Global Customer Solutions, Enterprise Networks
    Division, Siemens Information and Communication Networks.

  • Marty Seyer, VP and General Manager, AMD’s Microprocessor Business Unit
  • Luca Cafiero. Senior VP, GM, Storage Technology Group, Cisco Systems.
  • Soni Jiandani VP, Storage Technology Group, Cisco Systems.
  • Dean Alms, VP of Corporate Strategy, PeopleSoft.

Last week, Jupitermedia announced the addition of Gail Whipple, Vice
President Digital Media from IBM Global Services who will launch the show.

“Having Gail Whipple as the opening keynoter and IBM as a sponsor is a
wonderful example of how this show is building in momentum,” Meckler said.

The one keynote seems to be drawing the most attention, however, is from
SCO Group president and CEO Darl McBride.

In his address titled “There’s No Free Lunch — Or Free Linux,” McBride
will present his perspectives on the prospects of free industries, SCO’s
suit against IBM, and why intellectual property must be protected in a
digital age.

“The Internet created — and creatively destroyed — great wealth. It
also created a culture legitimizing intellectual property theft,” said
McBride. “When you defend intellectual property, you speak an unpleasant
truth. People don’t like to hear unpleasant truths. The alternative to this
fight, however, is the death of an industry and thousands of jobs lost.”

SCO Group is currently embroiled in one of the industry’s most talked
about legal battles. McBride and his company claim to hold licenses for
UNIX, is claiming ownership of UNIX code allegedly included in the open
source Linux operating system, blaming IBM among others for putting it
there.

Despite complaints by some in the open source community, Jupitermedia
vice president Sean Moriarty says the company does not shy away from the
issues.

“A good trade show is often determined by the news and information that
comes out of the event,” Moriarty said. “It is our contention the industry
needs a shot in the arm and we feel that creating controversial
presentations like this bring back the passion that might be lacking in the
IT industry after too long of a downturn.”

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