PC Expo Diary

June 24, 2002 9:39 am: The morning is not starting off auspiciously. My 9:15 express train was cancelled due to trackwork, so I'm now on a 9:39 local, looking at a much later arrival at PC Expo/TECHXNY.

11:00: Coming out of Penn Station up to the street in New York turns out to be a treat. Clear and breezy, warm but not hot. A nice day to walk a few avenues over to the show.

11:13: I arrive at the Jacob Javitz Convention Center. Walking in past the statue of Javitz himself, I can see that the registration lines are long but the lobby is relatively clear. I already have my badge, so I can quickly pick up a badge-holder and head down to the keynote hall.

11:29: Microsoft's earlier keynote, focused on tablet PCs, is just letting out, so my delay hasn't prevented me from attending "20 Year Milestone: Integrating Business and IT Yesterday and Tomorrow", a keynote panel hosted by CRN editor Heather Clancy and VARBusiness' David Strom. Among other things, the panel splits on tablet computing. Trellix founder Dan Bricklin says "The tablet computer is (just) what one needs to take advantage of wireless networks." Chris Stone, vice chairman of Novell, is happy to add 'another device' to the network, but cautions that a Tablet PC "Is not something I would ever personally use."

12:15 pm: It's strange to see empty seats in Javitz's cafeteria area, but by the time I finish lunch (with VARBusiness' Chandra Steele, Dana Silverstein and Rob Wright) a half-hour later, the area is completely filled up.

1:00: I stop off in the press room on the fourth floor. All the computers the show organizers have provided for the media are in use, but at least I can get a breath of fresh air on the back deck, overlooking the Hudson River and the Interpid aircraft carrier.

1:12: Walking back out of the press room I can look down on the main exhibit hall. The aisles are bustling, but from here I can see that half the floor space has been blocked off with curtains and sits empty. The economy has certainly taken a toll.

1:20: On the PC Expo show floor at last. Crowds, activity. The big booths: HP, Sony, Toshiba, Intel.

1:30: I walk through the PC Expo exhibit space, and go down the escalators to the Digital Video Expo a floor below. This 'mini-show' is packed with people. Adobe, Sony, Panasonic and other 'big' vendors are down here, along with numerous specialty hardware and software companies, and video production firms. Spotlights occasionally blind me temporarily.

1:45: Up on the main show floor again, at CMP Media's booth, where CRN's Jeff O'Heir has set up the CRN NewsRadio table. Jeff is interviewing Ken Brandt, managing director of security consultant Tiger Testing. Brandt on doing government work: "It takes a large amount of pre-work before you can do any (paid) work."

2:07: A crew from local New York TV station WOR arrives at the booth to interview CRN editor Steve Burke on the show and the growing role of mobile computing devices. Burke notes that devices like Handspring's Treo still have "a long way to go" before their price and functionality reach a point where they're widely adopted among mainstream businesses.

2:30: Kevin Gilroy, channel chief of HP arrives at the NewsRadio booth for his interview with Jeff O'Heir. Jeff introduces him as the "star guest of the day." Gilroy talks about upcoming changes to HP's Hard Deck program, trying to reassure partners. "We see a visceral reaction among our partners" to changes in Hard Deck, he admits. (As Gilroy is talking, author William F. Buckley Jr. walks past the booth with a group of people, and disappears down an aisle.) Gilroy concludes, "HP's channel is going to rock."

3:15: The Federal Bureau of investigation has a booth at the show. They're distributing information on the National Infrastructure Protection Center, the government agency fighting cyber-terrorism. They're also looking for tech-savvy recruits.

3:35: Down the escalators again, this time to Web Services Edge. While not as packed as DV Expo, this area is also busy. Big booths: BEA, Silverstream, Borland. Lots of independent software vendors with Java and XML tools. As I watch, Borland demos JBuilder 7, their newly released Java development environment, while at the next booth, Macromedia's Glen Daniels is discussing developing XML web services with Apache AXIS.

4:11: The largest crowd I've seen so far at PC Expo surrounds Xerox's booth, as Gil Hatch, President of Xerox Office Systems group, hosts a 'print off' among the new Xerox Document Centre (yes, Centre) and printers from Canon, Ricoh and HP. Xerox wins.

5:00 sharp: The lights in the exhibition area dim, and people are encouraged to egress.

6:30: After some maneuvering, I've made it across town to Rockefeller Center for the VARBusiness 500 Awards. I'm in a reception room one floor below the Rainbow Room, with stunning views of the city in every direction.

6:46: VARBusiness publisher Mike Uliss opens the reception, thanking the sponsors of the event, and congratulating the VARBusiness 500 companies. Each sponsor gets a moment to address the crowd of solution providers. The IBM representative's pitch is direct enough. "If you want to make money, call me."

7:15: Up in the Rainbow Room. VARBusiness' executive editor T.C. Doyle didn't make the trip to the city, so I'm lucky enough to get his prime seat near the front. I'm sitting with some of the industry's top executives: Ned Stringham, CEO of SBI; Stephen Mack, president and COO of Inforte; and Mark Hanny, Vice President, Worldwide SMB and Channel Marketing for IBM.

7:46: VARBusiness editorial director Robert DeMarzo opens the formal ceremonies, and introduces former White House economic advisor and hedge fund manager Todd Buchholz, who delivers the evening's keynote - a funny and optimistic look at the economy. I do my actual reporting for the day. A terrific dinner is swiftly delivered as Buchholz is concluding.

9:03: Bob DeMarzo, Rich Cirillo and David Strom begin presenting the VARBusiness 500 Awards.

10:10: The awards concluded, I must carefully balance the timing between remaining at the bar and getting home at a reasonable time. I get a couple beers and still am in my door before midnight.

The Best Of The Week

Call it the worst of the week: faced with the revalation of nearly four billion dollars in potential accounting fraud, Worldcom is struggling to stay afloat. CEO John Sidgmore tried to reassure solution providers the company would endure. In contrast, major problems at Qwest and Xerox seem minor.

Intel shipped its Itanium 2 processor, and showed off its Banius processor for laptops; while Microsoft shipped Visual J#.Net.

Microsoft solutions providers are gathering for Fusion, the company's annual partner show. Already, Microsoft has promised to invest $500 Million in partner marketing and sales support.

Coming up next week: more coverage of the Microsoft Fusion in our News Center, and another edition of CRN's 'Selling Small Business' special report.