Geek Show Recap: Massive Vancouver 2008

The Massive Technology Show returned to Vancouver in 2008. I was able to catch the first half of the 1-day show and here is a recap. There were too many cool exhibitors to recap for Massive Vancouver 2008 but I do want to share 2 exhibitors in particular that I had very interesting chats with. I also wanted to share a shockingly negative experience from the Information Security panel session that I attended.

Ian Lee & Lindsay Smith, CEO & Executive Producer of Massive Technology Show First of all, a big thank you goes out to Lindsay Smith, CEO & Executive Producer of the show. That’s me and Lindsay in the picture op on the right. As with last year’s Massive, Lindsay extended to me an All Access Media Pass so I was able to visit the exhibitor hall and gain access to speaker presentations. Thanks Lindsay.

Yahoo! Canada (Exhibitor)

When the Yahoo Publisher Networkk (YPN) first launched, I was invited to join as a publisher but shortly after was also rejected based on the fact that I was not a US based publisher (ie. I did not have a US Tax ID). So I asked Martin Byrne, National Director for Yahoo Search Marketing Canada, when Yahoo! will open up YPN so publishers outside of the US will also be able to run their advertisements. The short answer was that no publishers outside of the US will ever get accepted into YPN. Reason for this is that Yahoo! will eventually phase out YPN and launch a new replacement product that will handle both the advertising and publishing. Essentially, your new Yahoo! account will allow you to purchase and/or run ads through the same account. From our conversation, looks like beta for the new platform will be some time in Q3 of this year and hopefully Q4 is where we will see the hard launch. Finally! I am glad there will soon be another online revenue generation option for hard working publishers.

everystockphoto – Vibrant Software (Exhibitor)

Dual 24 inch LCD screens at Vibrant Software’s booth was not what got my attention but rather, the content showing in the monitors was what intrigued me to ask some questions. Everystockphoto.com was the featured website at Vibrant’s booth. So what is the relation between Vibrant and everystockphoto? Before I get to that, let me describe everystockphoto. In short, it is an index of millions (over 2.5 million at the time of this blog post) of freely licensed photos, from many sources, available for use by anyone. It was explained to me that anyone can download and freely use most of the images from this website as long as the images are referenced to the source. This will definitely come in handy for many websites & blogs who cannot afford to pay for stock images. Now the relation between everystockphoto.com and Vibrant. Apparently, Vibrant is a web development company who created this free photo site. The featured website was used as the hook at this trade show to get people to come up to their booth. This campaign worked. Nicely done Vibrant Software.

Information Security Panel (Speaker Presentation)

By the time I got to the tradeshow, this panel, moderated by Chris Sepp (MYRA Systems Corp), had already begun. The 4 security experts on the panel were John R. Hill (McAfee Inc), Dmitry Samosseiko (Sophoslabs), Duane Nickull (Adobe Systems) and Jeff Malenfant (Helcim Inc). I did enjoy some interesting comments and examples from the group but there was also one comment in particular that left a sour taste in my mouth.

One of the experts on the panel (Duane Nickull from Adobe) said something to the effect that, “users that own a bluetooth device who do not take steps to secure it deserve to have their information stolen.” That was not the exact phrase but from his body language and demeanor at the time, what the panelist meant was that (stupid) users deserve it when hackers steal their data. I was glad someone from the crowd raised their hand and shared to the group that users in general are not stupid by nature, but sometimes, happen to own a piece of equipment that can put them at risk without the user even realizing it. I have to completely agree with this comment from the crowd. Be it right or wrong, many end users are just that – someone who uses a product for it’s intended purpose and don’t worry or know enough about security threats that may come with their new purchase. Needless to say, when an expert in the industry can make a condescending comment like the one above in an educational forum, it sure looks like there is no more hope for the rest of us saps who are not security gurus. Shortly after hearing that comment, I left the presentation (along with a few other attendees I might add).

Massive Technology Show Vancouver 2008 Summary

Lindsay Smith put on another fantastic event and I look forward to attending future events. By this time next year, this event will be put on by Blink Media as Lindsay has joined forces with the crew from Get Connected (Mike Agerbo and AJ Vickery, both of whom I have watched on TV since the first generation Chalk TV days).

Others who also blogged about Massive Technology Show 2008

Miss 604 – Rebecca Bollwitt

Author
Ian Lee
Work from home dad, marketer and photographer. Fallen in love with basketball all over again as I coach my daughter's team.

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