IDG on thin crowds: OpenSource World is invitation only

Earlier today, I posted an entry from the kick-off keynote at OpenSource World and noted that the crowds were pretty light. From my viewpoint, there were probably all of about 250 or so people in that room. Having attended LinuxWorld last year, I couldn't help but wonder what caused such a slowdown in attendance. Was it the economy? Slashed travel budgets? Maybe it was the use of Twitter as a means of following the event remotely.

Then, I got a call from the folks at IDGWorld Expo, which hosts the show, for some clarification.

It turns out that the new show - which incorporates the old LinuxWorld and wraps in NGDC (Next Generation Data Center) and Cloud World - is no longer open to the public. Instead, the hosts have " rigorously qualified thousands of attendees to ensure that participants represent only IT professionals, technology buyers and C-level decision makers."

Sure, the lines at the registration booths had picked up by late morning - but there was still no where near "thousands of attendees" in that building. No way.

IDG is pitching this as a hand-picked group that will be able to maximize the networking and learning opportunities at the show by ensuring that those who are most interested in the topics at-hand are in attendance.

But I can't help but question the spin - largely because I recognize that travel budgets are tight, IT staffs have been slashed and so many of the topics being covered, such as cloud computing and virtualization, are being covered at other conferences, as well as all over the blogosphere.

Has social media, virtual meetings and other technologies killed the need for ultra-geeky tech shows? Last year, my BTL counterpart Larry Dignan attended a show where he met some mid-market IT folks who were attending because the conference organizers paid their way so vendors could meet with them.

I'm not even coming close to implying that that's what's happening here. It's just interesting that a show like this started off with such a whimper when these topics - cloud computing and virtualization - are on the minds of IT decision-makers everywhere.

Maybe the thousands of attendees will start pouring into Moscone Center later today or even tomorrow. But if they wait too much longer, they'll miss everything. The show wraps up tomorrow afternoon.