He's no Steve Jobs - but filmmaker Kevin Smith, whose works include the Clerks films, will do his part as a featured presenter to attract a crowd to the 2010 Macworld Conference, which is being held in February in San Francisco, the first without any sort of presence by Apple.
Does this make Smith - recognized by movie fans as his Silent Bob character - the replacement keynote presenter? The folks behind Macworld aren't necessarily saying that - but they are calling him a "feature presenter" and said he will be on-hand for a Q&A with attendees to talk about pretty much any subject, but likely will stay focused on the role of video technology in the film industry.
You'll recall that last year, Apple said the 2009 Macworld conference would be its last. And with CEO Steve Jobs headed into a medical leave of absence that would eventually include a liver transplant, Apple exec Phil Schiller represented the company on the stage for the last time.
As they say in Hollywood, the show must go on - and so the folks behind Macworld have been busy lining up speakers. Smith, who was announced today, will join tech journalists Leo LaPorte or David Pogue as presenters this year.
In addition, the show has moved from its traditional spot on the calendar in January - which always overlapped with the big Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas - to February 9-13. It will continue to be held at San Francisco's Moscone Center.