It’s a chance to showcase some of the best and brightest of Alberta’s high-tech industry, an international platform where hopeful start-ups and established companies can roll the dice and maybe even rub elbows with Bill Gates.
This week, more than 200,000 technology professionals are flocking to COMDEX/Fall 2000 in Las Vegas, the world’s biggest, priciest computer technology trade show and a glitzy spectacle of industry self-promotion.
Scattered among the 2,100 exhibitors and forest of display booths will be a handful of Calgary companies, each of whom have forked over thousands of dollars for the chance to make a deal, meet a partner or just have a window on the action.
For Calgary’s Wireless Networks Inc., COMDEX is a potential gold mine of opportunity. The company is on a cross-America financing safari, looking to raise $5 million US to fund their operations as they work towards taking the company public this spring.
“It’s an opportunity for us to network,” as well as finding potential financial partners, suppliers and customers, says Brad Hurtubise, CFO and director of the firm, which specializes in the research and development of Bluetooth wireless technology.
“We’re looking for this round of financing very specifically at strategic capital,” adds Hurtubise.
“We can raise the money around town here if we want to. But we don’t want just money, we want sponsorship from specific tech funds in the States.”
Hurtubise believes the trade show will also help give his company increased presence and credibility in the hotly-competitive wireless market.
As first-time exhibitors at Com-dex, the company will be demonstrating its Bluelink product, a USB device called a “dongle” which can be plugged into the back of a computer to enable it to use Bluetooth — a technology which eliminates cables that connect devices like PCs, printers, phones, PDAs and digital cameras.
It’s predicted that within two years, most computers will have internal Bluetooth, but the Bluelink device allows older or “legacy” equipment to be Bluetooth-enabled.
Calgary’s Audioshock Inc. will also be a debutante on the giant Las Vegas Convention Centre show floor.
“We thought it was a really good forum to get in touch with original equipment manufacturers who we are looking to ultimately sell to and partner with,” says Adam Scott, marketing manager for the high-tech startup which is showcasing a hardware design used in digital audio or MP3 jukeboxes.
Audioshock designs hardware used in Internet entertainment products for the consumer electronics market. Their technology enables entertainment devices, including stereos and televisions, to receive content from the Internet.
Being a COMDEX exhibitor isn’t cheap — Audioshock is paying $16,000 for a booth measuring 10 by 20 feet, plus all the other associated costs of putting together a presentation and sending staff down to Vegas for a week. Other companies will spend thousands more for Internet-connected booths with all the bells and whistles.
“We’re pretty excited,” Scott admits. “Our board is just coming out now, just going through its debugging, so it’s essentially ready today. Our timing is just excellent for presenting this product, and trying to make a big splash.
“It’s an opportunity to promote ourselves, and show to our industry that we’re serious and we’re a player.”
Also attending COMDEX this week is Cameron Chell, president and CEO of Chell Merchant Capital Group.
Chell is giving a keynote speech on the businesss of the ASP (application service provider) industry, and is expected to make an announcement today on a new global ASP deal for his company.
Keynote speakers at the conference, which runs all this week, include Bill Gates of Microsoft, Hewlett Packard Co. chair Carly Fiorina, Dell Computer Corp. CEO Michael Dell and Oracle Corp. CEO Larry Ellison.
Alberta Innovation and Science and Alberta Economic Development are also hosting a booth at the show, and bringing with them Calgary companies including Voodoo Computers and B2B specialists MyMarketWorks.com
First-time COMDEX exhibitors need to keep their feet on the ground, advises Don Morberg of University Technologies International Inc., which markets, licenses and helps commercialize tech companies in Calgary.
“I would encourage them to go if they could afford it, just for the experience of seeing what the competition is like in the rest of the world,” says Morberg. However, the sheer size of COMDEX sometimes makes it difficult to ink deals, he adds, although it’s an ideal situation for making contacts.
“I would really encourage anybody in the high-tech sector to make the trip down, but don’t expect it to be your big break,” he adds. “It’s one stepping stone.”
