I’m getting more and more excited as Gnomedex 6 approaches. I’ve been registered since the first day tickets were available (a little earlier, actually, since registration opened earlier to past Gnomedex attendees).
But today, I read some news from Chris Pirillo that made me sad - AMD is a Gnomedex sponsor (or, as Chris put it, “AMD Cares About Bloggers“).
Why does that make me sad? Because I’ve been working with Chris to try to find some way to get Intel involved in sponsoring or helping out with Gnomedex for almost a year. I tried to see if they wanted to show off WiMAX technology to fix the bandwidth drought that happened last year. I fished around on the internal blogs and mailing lists to try to convince someone that it would be a great thing for Intel to be a sponsor. To convince them that they need to care about the bloggers and influentials that go to Gnomedex if they’re ever going to turn around their image problem, and win back some market share. But, alas, I couldn’t find anyone to listen. And now, AMD has taken one more bite of Intel’s lunch. *sigh*
I don’t think Intel collectively decided not to be involved. I think this is a result of the tremendous, crushing bureaucracy and culture of fear and paranoia that exist at Intel. I couldn’t find anyone who was willing to take the risk. Whether that person exists, and I just couldn’t find them, or whether no one like that exists at Intel, I don’t know.
I’m looking forward to chatting with any AMD folks at G6 - to see how they feel about blogging, etc. Apparently the company doesn’t allow blogging, which is one place where Intel is at least slightly ahead.
It would have felt so good to have Intel be a Gnomedex sponsor. D’oh!
/me bangs head on desk…
TinyScreenfuls Feed (this blog)
Very sad news indeed. I’m surprised no one from Marketing responded. Have you (will you) notify Paul about this missed opportunity?
I consdered Paul notified when I posted this blog entry.
Last year AMD wasn’t in attendance from what I could tell. I’ll be there again this year as well! And I will take any “gift bags” that AMD hands out and show ‘em off in my cube when I get back.
Yeah, I can’t wait to see if I can pick up some AMD swag.
From what I’ve been hearing, there are going to be a lot more Intel people in attendance this year - come find me and say Hi!
This is hardly a “HUGE” opportunity….its not like Intel didn’t show up to Computex or something. Gnomedex is hardly a top tier conference (reglardelss of what the “professional conference crowd” or the throngs of “independent consultants” say).
If it’s not a “top tier” conference, then why did AMD bother to sponsor? Or why did Google, Yahoo, and Microsoft sponsor last year? Why did Microsoft reveal Windows Vista’s RSS functionality exclusively at Gnomedex 5?
It all depends on how you define “top tier”. For me, it’s the most important conference I’ve ever been to (and I’ve been to a few). I paid my own way last year. I’d pay my own way again this year if Intel decided not to send me. That’s how important I think it is.
No, Josh - AJ is right. We were only at the top of Technorati for three days, instead of four days like… like… like, I’m sure other conferences have their keyword at the top of Technorati all the time. Plus, we don’t have a marketing budget - so that automatically makes us lower tier, especially after we sell out our main hall seating before day one. We’re not THAT important.
I used to work for Intel, its just a crappy company. AMD is such a better employer.