DEMOgala 2006
Congratulations to everyone associated with CSIA's DEMOgala held September 21st at the Grand Hyatt in Downtown Denver. From the 37 demonstrating companies and more than 750 attendees to the 54 volunteers and invaluable sponsors who made the event possible, CSIA's DEMOgala was a tremendous success.
Think 2006 was great? Then make sure to get your tickets for the 2008 DEMOgala event, October 2, 2008.
Excitement during the sold-out event was apparent as attendees and DEMO Showcase companies got the chance to talk about creative business ideas, product innovation and the Colorado IT climate - everything DEMO stands for.
Attendees ranged from C-level executives and venture capitalists to students and career counselors as the focus of DEMOgala incorporated technology and education as the critical elements for the future of Colorado's economy.
Pictured above: Fox 31 News gets a shot of the "Good Samaritan" robot created by Colorado State Students in cooperation with RoadNarrows. The student-lead robotics team won 4th place in a world-wide robotics competition held in Germany earlier this year.
"The 2006 DEMOgala was a great indicator of the innovations and the strength of the IT industry in our state," said John Oechsle, SVP and CIO of IHS Inc. and chairman of the 2006 CSIA DEMOgala. "The event truly lived up to the intensity, innovation and inspiration we intended."
"The DEMOgala Selection Team did a great job because the companies demonstrating their products were the best Colorado has to offer," said Bob Ogdon, CEO of SwiftPage and chair of the DEMOgala Showcase. "DEMO companies truly brought their "A-game" to the event and showcased not only how much is going on with the IT industry in Colorado, but also the fact that creativity and innovation is strong with IT businesses in our state," he added.
From SWAT team rescues and nationally renowned gaming software to search engine "pirates" and a student-lead robitics team, DEMOgala provided a platform for Colorado companies to shine and attendees to learn about which companies are pushing creativity to new levels.
From DEMO companies' perspective, the return on investment was evident. "We had great traffic in our area from people who were interested in what ISYS is doing," said Mo Skotak, PR Specialist for ISYS Search Software. "Even more importantly is that we got the opportunity to establish our Colorado presence while being a part of the excitement that was generated from all Colorado companies working toward the common goal of improving the IT industry."
The 2006 DEMOgala sponsors included the new Presenting Sponsor, IBM, who also brought in Jeffrey Rhoda, VP of Innovation , as the keynote speaker. Other sponsors included IHS Inc. as Title Sponsor; and Cooley Godward, PricewaterhouseCoopers, KPMG, Mercury, Metro Denver Economic Development Corporation and ViaWest as Co-Sponsors. Marketing Partner was Propel Advertising and PR Partner was VisiTech PR. Promotional Partners included Swiftpage Email, YellowDog Printing, w3w3.com, The Denver Business Journal and The Boulder County Business Report.
Thanks to all the outstanding sponsors and volunteers who made DEMOgala such a success!
Pictured Above: Fox 31 News gets a shot of the "Good Samaritan" robot created by Colorado State Students in cooperation with RoadNarrows. The student-lead robotics team won 4th place in a world-wide robotics competition held in Germany earlier this year. Selected Companies for CSIA DEMOgala 2006
The DEMOgala Selection Committee chose the final DEMO companies from an initial list of over 150 outstanding innovators. Congratulations to the final selected companies on becoming part of an elite group representing Colorado and the IT industry.