This is the first time the
Intel
Capital CEO Summit has been open to the press, and it shows. The reason for
excluding reporters in the past from the event, held this year at the La Costa
Resort in Carlsbad, Calif., is obvious — ink-stained wretches might intrude on
any deals being cut. Still, the pains taken to control the media coverage, given
that select journalists were invited to the gathering, border on the paranoid.
This reporter was assigned a media relations "companion," and even a trip to the
restroom after a taxi ride from San Diego International Airport required an
escort (although my female minder graciously left me at the bathroom door). That
sense of caution will continue Friday morning, when Intel Corp. CEO Paul
Otellini gives a speech from which the media is excluded.
Still, kudos to Intel Capital president
Arvind
Sodhani and his media reps for extending an invitation to what promises to
be a compelling event for the venture unit's portfolio companies, as well as for
corporate execs looking for a sneak peek at promising new technologies. Intel
Capital, the largest corporate venture arm in the world, invited only three
media types to two days of the summit, including
Infectious
Greed blogger and VC Paul Kedrosky and National Public Radio correspondent
Scott Horsley, who will take the stage to interview Sherpalo Ventures founder
and early Google Inc. investor
Ram
Shriram. And the event, where executives from Intel Capital's portfolio
companies get to pitch their wares to Fortune 1000 companies and their potential
customers, offers a ring-side seat at one of the hottest tech deal tickets
around.
—Olaf
de Senerpont Domis
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previous post from Tech Confidential
See
story from TheDeal.com
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