Volumes have already been written about the use of social media in the presidential campaigns.  Howard Dean opened the door with his deft use of the Web as a grassroots fundraising tool. The Obama campaign charged through that opening and forever redefined how campaigns reach tens of millions of voters by whatever communications tools they use: MySpace, Facebook, blogs, Twitter, text messaging.

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Over the last few weeks, I've had a number of conversations with VCs and angel investors and if there is one take away from those many discussions it is this:  everyone agrees the economy is gloomy and no one agrees on what it means for funds-seeking startups.

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Last week, admittedly in a move to get product developers to think beyond the holidays and plan ahead for their Spring product launch at DEMO 08, I used this space to finger wag at the product manager who doesn't intertwine product launch plans with product development plans.

"How good," I asked, "can a product really be if, just days before it is ready for market, its creator realizes that, in fact, it needs a marketing program?"

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Headed into my 13th year and 24th DEMO Conference, I shouldn't be surprised by much.   I've seen many amazing products, to be sure, and I've also had one or two folks from the lunatic fringe wildly commanding the white board and insisting that their team of aliens would deliver a 6-minute demo of a lifetime.

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It may seem that all the world is falling in around us, as the global exchanges see-saw like school frantic children at recess and VCs send warning shots over the bows of their portfolio companies. There's no doubt about it: times are tough and they'll stay this way for a while.  But the world as we know it is not coming to an end.   At least not if you are a startup who has played all along by the principles of prudence befitting an early-stage company.

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Catch your breath yet?

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DEMOfall 08 company RealNetworks has captured their fair share of headlines over the last few weeks with their new product RealDVD. The product allows you to save DVD’s to your PC and watch them later without the disk. The battle over whether copying a DVD is legal or not began almost immediately after the product launch. Follow the story below and tell us what you think should happen.

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One of our favorite marketing partners from last month's DEMOfall 08 event, Golden Capital Network, is hosting its 8th Annual Silver & Gold Venture Capital conference in Reno, NV in a couple of weeks (Oct. 21st to be exact).  They are offering a deep discount to DEMO.com readers - save 50% off the regular registration rate.   Here are the details: 

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With each day’s headlines bringing more grim economic news, it’s no wonder that the most-often asked question in my circles these days is about the impact of a shaky economy on the innovation ecosystems in Silicon Valley and around the world.

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With more than 10,000 votes cast over the past 10 days, OpenACircle.com came out on top of the DEMOfall 08 'Best in Show' contest capturing more than one quarter of the total with 2,611 online votes.

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