Microsoft's Conference Marketing, Part 2

Yesterday I wrote about what I considered a woefully off-target pitch by BlogHer sponsor Microsoft for their new Windows Live Spaces service.

Kevin O'Keefe at Lexblog picked up on this, and said that Microsoft "should have gone the low key approach as at Gnomedex. Write a check to a worthwhile program, get thanked on various occasions, and get out of the way."

Now, that's interesting. Could someone tell me exactly what Microsoft did at Gnomedex? Were they promoting the same product: Windows Live Spaces? And if so, how did they pitch it? Were the Janes there doing this song and dance?

I'll look into this when I have time. On a cursory glance, MS Tech Today doesn't offer any real information about the way Windows Live Spaces was pitched at Gnomedex. Nor does the MSN/Windows Live Newsroom. Hmmm, I was just chatting with Ponzi last night at the BlogHer reception. Wish I'd known about this then to ask her about it.

Comments

[Kevin OKeefe]

Chris or Ponzi may be willing to share exact details. But their was nothing done to pitch Live Spaces or any particular product at Gnomedex.

From my perspective as an attendee, Microsoft was a large sponsor of Gnomedex having their name on materials and on large display near stage. Chris mentioned them more than once thanking for being conference sponsor and for sponsoring one of the networking cocktail parties at the Museum of Flight or the Experimental Music Project. Got feel that the company wanted to do right by Chris and support him anyway they could.

Tie that to having a number of Microsoft employees in audience participating in discussions and it gave Microsoft a nice PR presence.

Not as big as last year's Gnomedex with the big presentation and accompanying jackets on 'Longhorn loves RSS' telling the audience how great it was going to be using RSS on Microsofts new operating system by the end of the year - '05. ;)

I was not at Blogher but looks from afar that Saturn and Johnson & Johnson beat Microsoft all the heck in PR with attendees.

[Chris Pirillo]

My guess is that the BlogHer coordinators were strongarmed into it (just a GUESS).

It's pay-to-play across the entire conference industry, Amy - countless sponsors just assume (inappropriately) that participation is a given.

[Amy Gahran]

Thanks, Kevin and Chris. Especially thanks for pointing me toward your earlier posting on Microsoft, chris, which I linkblogged and now am following up on since I heard from Kristin Mak at MS.

- Amy Gahran