Steve Jobs, Apple’s CEO, will deliver the opening keynote address for Macworld Conference & Expo in San Francisco on Tuesday, January 10, 2006 at 9:00 a.m. Macworld will be held at San Francisco’s Moscone Convention Center January 9-13, 2006. “Steve’s keynote is always a great way to kick off the biggest Mac event of the year,” said David Korse, CEO of IDG World Expo. “We’ve added several new features to this year’s event, and we’re working hard to make this the most entertaining and informative Macworld ever.”
Last year’s Macworld in San Francisco had sizable growth from the previous year with an 11% overall attendance increase. There was also a 13% increase in the number of paid conference delegates; a 10% increase in the number of exhibitors; and a 31% increase in the average number of hours spent on the exhibit hall floor by attendees.
More than 300 exhibitors are expected to show products at this week’s Macworld — a marked increase over 2005. The company also provided details about some of the event highlights next week. The increase in exhibitors would seem to be a sign of growth both in the Mac market and the burgeoning iPod market. Last year’s Macworld Expo San Francisco saw 275 vendors exhibit, which was a 10 percent more than 2004. This year’s growth is expected to be even bigger, with closer to 350 vendors signed up for the show.
“It’s gonna be packed,” said Mike Sponseller, public relations manager for IDG World Expo.
The event kicks off today with “Power Tools” conference sessions, but for many of the attendees and Mac enthusiasts who keep an eye on the event happenings, it doesn’t really get started until Jobs’ keynote at 9:00 AM PST on Tuesday, January 10, 2005. At 11:00 AM the doors are scheduled to open. The event runs through Friday. Job’s keynote is traditionally shown live on the Apple website, for those wishing to avoid the crowds of the Macintosh “faithful” and those who are unable to attend.
Featured presentations are open to all attendees include David Pogue’s Macworld talk show, info on podcasting, George Lucas’ revolution in filmmaking and new features in Photoshop CS.
The Macworld Auto Show is a new Exhibit Hall attraction that features a number of cars customized with Mac integration and iPod docks, including a Volkswagen GTi, Porsche Cayenne, vintage Buick Riviera and more. The John Lennon Educational Tour Bus will give users a look at the state of the art in mobile recording and multimedia production.
Fifteen “Power Tools” conferences, covering the gamut of creative professional work on the Macintosh, a new feature called Market Symposiums, are set up to help small businss owners, educators, art directors and others. Other features include the new Creative Corner in the Exhibit Hall, highlighting music and audio technology, digital photography and more, the Berklee Dream Studio, created by the Berklee College of Music and more.
With the demise of the east coast Expos in New York and Boston, this is the only opportunity to attend this famed conference. The European Macworld, traditionally held in Paris, France will continue.
E. “Doc” Smith is a musician and recording engineer who has worked with the likes of Brian Eno, Madonna, Warren Zevon, Mickey Hart, Jimmy Cliff, and John Mayall among others. He has used Macintosh computers exclusively for music and recording since 1986. He is also the inventor of the musical instrument the Drummstick, and can be reached at drummstick@earthlink.net
