IDG World Expo, the producers of Macworld Conference & Expo, and Apple Computer Inc. on Wednesday jointly announced a new event aimed at creative professionals. Scheduled for July 14-18, 2003 at New York’s Javits Center, CREATE will focus on technology and professional solutions for the creative arts, including design and publishing, video and music.
“It’s time for a change, and time for an event which addresses the increasingly tech-savvy community of artists, designers, directors and musicians,” said Colin Crawford, vice president, business development and operations, IDG. “We’re very excited about the new event, and hope the creative community is looking forward to a different kind of learning and networking experience with CREATE.”
The new event will feature an exhibit floor, which will be open from July 16-18. IDG World Expo said today that the event would have many different Macintosh companies at the event as exhibitors.
“Our exhibit floor will be substantial and it will have a cross-section of companies that sell to all types of Mac users,” Rob Scheschareg, vice president, sales, marketing and product development, IDG World Expo, told MacCentral. “Apple will continue to have their booth at the front of the exhibit hall.”
Conference organizes also said that they have not had any exhibitors cancel because of Apple’s recent change in dates for its Worldwide Developer Conference. Discussions are ongoing with many companies to determine their level of participation in CREATE.
“Most of the companies we target and WWDC targets to exhibit know that these events are very different and they serve different audiences — not just regionally, but from a content perspective,” said Scheschareg.
CREATE’s conference sessions will run the full week of the event and will include:
Tutorials will focus on topics such as:
Conference sessions will cover topics such as:
Confirmed speakers include:
“Apple has an amazing community of professional customers in the greater New York area and we are excited to be part of launching a new event designed specifically for them,” said Philip Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Product Marketing. “We are working with IDG to help make CREATE a new event where our pro customers can immerse themselves in the latest technologies and solutions.”
CREATE takes over the dates once held by Macworld Conference & Expo in New York City, but conference officials are not sure if CREATE will permanently fill the slot for an East Coast event.
“It’s too early to tell. All of our energies are focused on CREATE in New York — after the event is over, we will have a better sense of how successful it was and what that means moving forward,” said Scheschareg.
IDG World Expo previously announced that Macworld Conference & Expo would move to Boston in 2004, but Scheschareg said that everything would be evaluated after the New York CREATE launch this summer.
With the new format, CREATE will be more conference oriented than its Macworld predecessor. One notable change that will happen with the launch of CREATE will be the lack of a Steve Jobs keynote.
“We have altered the format of the event to highlight the educational focus of the show, so we will not be having a keynote,” said Scheschareg. “We will, however, be having a number of feature presentations from key companies, including Apple.”
Scheschareg said he expects strong attendance at the new event, drawing from the creative community in the East Coast.
“We believe there will be a strong attendance for the event,” said Scheschareg. “Macworld New York has historically shown that there is a very ready audience in New York.”
While the format and location for an East Coast event remains up in the air, the fate of Macworld Conference & Expo San Francisco is sure — the show will go on with the support of Apple.
“Apple has said that they look forward to participating in Macworld Expo in San Francisco,” said Scheschareg.
IDG World Expo and MacCentral are both owned by IDG.