EK, I'm off to LaQuinta which is only just over an hour from here.
I hope I meet Billy there. Can you give me a clue on what he looks like?
I used to pay a registration fee, and $300 a night for the Goldman show. They now will pay me $10k if I just attend!
>OK, so it's not exactly hardship duty to attend a cushy investment conference at a Southern California resort. But executives still will face a tough assignment when they present at the Goldman Sachs Technology Investment Symposium at the LaQuinta Resort & Club in LaQuinta, Calif., this week.
For one thing, in a year when some firms have shuttered their technology conferences altogether, investors are starving for new nuggets of financial insight. And then there's the tech slowdown in general, around which executives will have to do an artful mambo.
Companies probably will tackle the slowdown topic in at least three ways.
Some companies, such as software makers, will acknowledge that there's a general slowdown, but will say their business hasn't been affected.
Others, like equipment and boxmakers, will bluntly point to slower projections of tech spending, as well as sluggishness at manufacturers. They'll also explain that they have little, if any, visibility.
Then there will be those that'll use the perception of a slowdown as an excuse for their own internal shortfalls. It happened during Y2K, the conventional wisdom goes, and a lot of institutional investors suspect that it's happening now.
For software mavens, the kickoff of Goldman's conference might be better than a front row ticket to an *NSync concert. Just listen to this lineup, in order of their presentations, as listed in a preliminary schedule. There's Siebel (SEBL:Nasdaq - news), i2 Technologies (ITWO:Nasdaq - news), PeopleSoft (PSFT:Nasdaq - news), Ariba (ARBA:Nasdaq - news), Oracle (ORCL:Nasdaq - news) and VeriSign (VRSN:Nasdaq - news).
And all that's before lunch.
Many of these execs will say their sales should hold up well during tougher times because their software helps companies be more efficient. Little by little, though, that argument has been getting a little tired as some stocks -- think Oracle -- have seen their shares under pressure over concerns of sales strength.
Another software maker, PurchasePro.com (PPRO:Nasdaq - news), may feel pressure of a different kind. When it presents Thursday, it will likely be asked about a lawsuit filed Feb.6 alleging that it was founded with a stolen business plan. The company has denied the allegation.
In software's parallel universe, executives from a number of large computer makers are scheduled to present this week, including PC makers Hewlett-Packard (HWP:NYSE - news), IBM (IBM:NYSE - news) and Gateway (GTW:NYSE - news). But Gateway will probably be the only one spending much time talking about PCs. The company will treat the conference as an early step in the project of building the credibility of its new management team ahead of its analyst meeting later this month.
H-P and IBM, on the other hand, are much more concerned with highlighting the parts of their businesses that have nothing to do with PCs. They're counting on things like services, storage, servers and software to bring them high growth and high profit margins, and will focus their presentations accordingly. H-P and Big Blue will thus spend their efforts trying to convince audiences that they can compete effectively with more focused hardware companies like EMC (EMC:NYSE - news), Sun (SUNW:Nasdaq - news) and Network Appliance (NTAP:Nasdaq - news) -- all of which will be arguing the contrary in their own presentations.
Fortunately for these guys, if the heat indoors gets to be too much, some sunny, temperate links will be just a few feet away. Goldman Sachs
Technology Investment Symposium
February 12-15,
2001LaQuinta Resort & Club LaQuinta, Calif.
Sunday | Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday
Preliminary Program Sunday, February 11, 2001
4:00-8:00 p.m. Registration
Monday, February 12, 2001
7:00 a.m. Breakfast
7:30 Keynote Speaker - Siebel Systems,
Thomas Siebel, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer
Salon de
Flores 4 Salon de Flores 5 Salon de Flores 1 Salon de Flores 6
8:30 TIBCO Software Hewlett-Packard Selectica eBay
9:00 Siebel Solectron Corporation Henry Affiliated Com-puter Services
9:30 i2 Technologies Parametric KLA-Tencor Exult
10:00 PeopleSoft Rational Software Altera Corporation Viant
10:30 Coffee Break
11:00 Ariba Handspring Lam Research Unisys
11:30 Oracle VeriSign, Inc. Analog Devices Aether
12:00 p.m. Lunch Keynote Speaker - EMC,
Mike Ruettgers, Chief Executive Officer
1:30 VerticalNet Tektronix Maxim Integrated Sapient
2:00 Commerce One Red Hat PMC-Sierra DiamondCluster
2:30 Broadbase Dassault Systems Amazon Organic
3:00 BroadVision SCI Systems Sandisk Inforte
3:30 Coffee Break
4:00 Descartes Systems Resonate, Inc. ASM Lithography Gould
4:30 BMC Software Exodus National Semiconductor Equifax
5:00 Manugistics Mobius Management Axcelis Technologies Gould
Breakout Sessions Fiesta 1 Fiesta 2 Fiesta 3 Fiesta 4
6:00 Dinner Keynote Speaker - Palm,
Carl Yankowski, Chief Executive Officer
Back to top
Tuesday, February 13, 2001
7:00 a.m. Breakfast
7:30 Investment Banking Panel
Salon de
Flores 4 Salon de Flores 5 Salon de Flores 1 Salon de Flores 6
8:30 FreeMarkets Agilent Technologies Microtune First Data Corporation
9:00 Kana Communications Brocade Advanced Energy Inktomi
9:30 Microsoft Meisner Xilinx Inet Technologies
10:00 Critical Path Storage Networks ATMI Inc. Computer Sciences
10:30 Coffee Break
11:00 webMethods, Inc. Flextronics Lattice Semiconductor EDS Corporation
11:30 Forrester Research StorageTek Broadcom Taiwan Semiconductor
12:00 p.m. Lunch - Research Technology Analyst Presentation
1:30 Mercury Interactive Jabil Credence Systems InfoSpace
2:00 Vignette Corporation Gateway Texas Instruments Sabre
2:30 Blue Martini Plexus Corporation Linear Technology Digital Insight
3:00 Coffee Break
3:30 Pivotal Software DoubleClick Vitesse Semiconductor Chartered Semi
4:00 Pegasystems Entrust Technologies Novellus Systems RealNetworks
4:30 Informatica C-MAC Industries Henry Philips Semiconductors
5:00 Meisner MatrixOne Semi's Openwave Systems
Breakout Sessions Fiesta 1 Fiesta 2 Fiesta 3 Fiesta 4
6:00 Dinner Keynote Speaker - Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers,
Ray Lane, Partner
Back to top
Wednesday, February 14, 2001
7:00 a.m. Breakfast
7:30 Keynote Speaker - Microsoft Corporation,
Rick Belluzzo, Director - Strategy, Business Development Microsoft.NET
Salon de
Flores 4 Salon de Flores 5 Salon de Flores 1 Salon de Flores 6
8:30 Veritas Software Cognos ARW Holdings ASE Inc.
9:00 ACTManufacturing Cadence Micron Technology Corio
9:30 Nuance Great Plains Anadigics Concord EFS
10:00 Novell APW, Ltd. Advanced Micro Devices Agency.com
10:30 Coffee Break
11:00 Internet Security Systems Sanmina Marvell Checkpoint
11:30 Actuate Software IBM LSI Logic Dimension Data
12:00 p.m. Lunch Keynote Speaker - Intel,
Andy Bryant, Chief Financial Officer
1:30 Niku Autodesk Yahoo AudioCodes
2:00 Universal Access Infineon Business Objects 724 Solutions
2:30 Saba Software OK, so it's not exactly hardship duty to attend a cushy investment conference at a Southern California resort. But executives still will face a tough assignment when they present at the Goldman Sachs Technology Investment Symposium at the LaQuinta Resort & Club in LaQuinta, Calif., this week.
For one thing, in a year when some firms have shuttered their technology conferences altogether, investors are starving for new nuggets of financial insight. And then there's the tech slowdown in general, around which executives will have to do an artful mambo.
Companies probably will tackle the slowdown topic in at least three ways.
Some companies, such as software makers, will acknowledge that there's a general slowdown, but will say their business hasn't been affected.
Others, like equipment and boxmakers, will bluntly point to slower projections of tech spending, as well as sluggishness at manufacturers. They'll also explain that they have little, if any, visibility.
Then there will be those that'll use the perception of a slowdown as an excuse for their own internal shortfalls. It happened during Y2K, the conventional wisdom goes, and a lot of institutional investors suspect that it's happening now.
For software mavens, the kickoff of Goldman's conference might be better than a front row ticket to an *NSync concert. Just listen to this lineup, in order of their presentations, as listed in a preliminary schedule. There's Siebel (SEBL:Nasdaq - news), i2 Technologies (ITWO:Nasdaq - news), PeopleSoft (PSFT:Nasdaq - news), Ariba (ARBA:Nasdaq - news), Oracle (ORCL:Nasdaq - news) and VeriSign (VRSN:Nasdaq - news).
And all that's before lunch.
Many of these execs will say their sales should hold up well during tougher times because their software helps companies be more efficient. Little by little, though, that argument has been getting a little tired as some stocks -- think Oracle -- have seen their shares under pressure over concerns of sales strength.
Another software maker, PurchasePro.com (PPRO:Nasdaq - news), may feel pressure of a different kind. When it presents Thursday, it will likely be asked about a lawsuit filed Feb.6 alleging that it was founded with a stolen business plan. The company has denied the allegation.
In software's parallel universe, executives from a number of large computer makers are scheduled to present this week, including PC makers Hewlett-Packard (HWP:NYSE - news), IBM (IBM:NYSE - news) and Gateway (GTW:NYSE - news). But Gateway will probably be the only one spending much time talking about PCs. The company will treat the conference as an early step in the project of building the credibility of its new management team ahead of its analyst meeting later this month.
H-P and IBM, on the other hand, are much more concerned with highlighting the parts of their businesses that have nothing to do with PCs. They're counting on things like services, storage, servers and software to bring them high growth and high profit margins, and will focus their presentations accordingly. H-P and Big Blue will thus spend their efforts trying to convince audiences that they can compete effectively with more focused hardware companies like EMC (EMC:NYSE - news), Sun (SUNW:Nasdaq - news) and Network Appliance (NTAP:Nasdaq - news) -- all of which will be arguing the contrary in their own presentations.
Fortunately for these guys, if the heat indoors gets to be too much, some sunny, temperate links will be just a few feet away. Goldman Sachs
Technology Investment Symposium
February 12-15,
2001LaQuinta Resort & Club LaQuinta, Calif.
Sunday | Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday
Preliminary Program Sunday, February 11, 2001
4:00-8:00 p.m. Registration
Monday, February 12, 2001
7:00 a.m. Breakfast
7:30 Keynote Speaker - Siebel Systems,
Thomas Siebel, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer
Salon de
Flores 4 Salon de Flores 5 Salon de Flores 1 Salon de Flores 6
8:30 TIBCO Software Hewlett-Packard Selectica eBay
9:00 Siebel Solectron Corporation Henry Affiliated Com-puter Services
9:30 i2 Technologies Parametric KLA-Tencor Exult
10:00 PeopleSoft Rational Software Altera Corporation Viant
10:30 Coffee Break
11:00 Ariba Handspring Lam Research Unisys
11:30 Oracle VeriSign, Inc. Analog Devices Aether
12:00 p.m. Lunch Keynote Speaker - EMC,
Mike Ruettgers, Chief Executive Officer
1:30 VerticalNet Tektronix Maxim Integrated Sapient
2:00 Commerce One Red Hat PMC-Sierra DiamondCluster
2:30 Broadbase Dassault Systems Amazon Organic
3:00 BroadVision SCI Systems Sandisk Inforte
3:30 Coffee Break
4:00 Descartes Systems Resonate, Inc. ASM Lithography Gould
4:30 BMC Software Exodus National Semiconductor Equifax
5:00 Manugistics Mobius Management Axcelis Technologies Gould
Breakout Sessions Fiesta 1 Fiesta 2 Fiesta 3 Fiesta 4
6:00 Dinner Keynote Speaker - Palm,
Carl Yankowski, Chief Executive Officer
Back to top
Tuesday, February 13, 2001
7:00 a.m. Breakfast
7:30 Investment Banking Panel
Salon de
Flores 4 Salon de Flores 5 Salon de Flores 1 Salon de Flores 6
8:30 FreeMarkets Agilent Technologies Microtune First Data Corporation
9:00 Kana Communications Brocade Advanced Energy Inktomi
9:30 Microsoft Meisner Xilinx Inet Technologies
10:00 Critical Path Storage Networks ATMI Inc. Computer Sciences
10:30 Coffee Break
11:00 webMethods, Inc. Flextronics Lattice Semiconductor EDS Corporation
11:30 Forrester Research StorageTek Broadcom Taiwan Semiconductor
12:00 p.m. Lunch - Research Technology Analyst Presentation
1:30 Mercury Interactive Jabil Credence Systems InfoSpace
2:00 Vignette Corporation Gateway Texas Instruments Sabre
2:30 Blue Martini Plexus Corporation Linear Technology Digital Insight
3:00 Coffee Break
3:30 Pivotal Software DoubleClick Vitesse Semiconductor Chartered Semi
4:00 Pegasystems Entrust Technologies Novellus Systems RealNetworks
4:30 Informatica C-MAC Industries Henry Philips Semiconductors
5:00 Meisner MatrixOne Semi's Openwave Systems
Breakout Sessions Fiesta 1 Fiesta 2 Fiesta 3 Fiesta 4
6:00 Dinner Keynote Speaker - Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers,
Ray Lane, Partner
Back to top
Wednesday, February 14, 2001
7:00 a.m. Breakfast
7:30 Keynote Speaker - Microsoft Corporation,
Rick Belluzzo, Director - Strategy, Business Development Microsoft.NET
Salon de
Flores 4 Salon de Flores 5 Salon de Flores 1 Salon de Flores 6
8:30 Veritas Software Cognos ARW Holdings ASE Inc.
9:00 ACTManufacturing Cadence Micron Technology Corio
9:30 Nuance Great Plains Anadigics Concord EFS
10:00 Novell APW, Ltd. Advanced Micro Devices Agency.com
10:30 Coffee Break
11:00 Internet Security Systems Sanmina Marvell Checkpoint
11:30 Actuate Software IBM LSI Logic Dimension Data
12:00 p.m. Lunch Keynote Speaker - Intel,
Andy Bryant, Chief Financial Officer
1:30 Niku Autodesk Yahoo AudioCodes
2:00 Universal Access Infineon Business Objects 724 Solutions
2:30 Saba Software SAP Cirrus Logic Checkfree
3:00 Art Technology Amdocs Parthus Predictive Systems
3:30 Coffee Break
4:00 CGI Group DuPont Photomasks Celestica Global Payments
4:30 Aspen Tech Micromuse Micrel CNet
5:00 Akamai Cabot Microelectronics Autonomy Ceridian
Breakout Sessions Fiesta 1 Fiesta 2 Fiesta 3 Fiesta 4
6:00 Reception/Dinner - Entertainment
Back to top
Thursday, February 15, 2001
7:00 a.m. Breakfast
7:30 Keynote Speaker - Sun Microsystems,
Ed Zander, President and Chief Operating Officer
Salon de
Flores 4 Salon de Flores 5 Salon de Flores 1 Salon de Flores 6
8:30 Calico Commerce Convergys Teradyne DSP Group
9:00 I-many Homestore.com Visual Networks Modis Professional
9:30 Portal Software Network Appliance Applied Materials Paychex
10:00 PurchasePro SmartForce Photronics Applied Micro Circuits
10:30 Coffee Break
11:00 MRO Software CSG Systems Actel Orbotech
11:30 Hyperion TerraLycos TranSwitch
12:00 p.m. Lunch Keynote Speaker - America Online,
Gerald M. Levin, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Time Warner Inc.
1:30 BEA Systems TenFold Conexant Systems Gould
2:00 Synopsys QLogic
Breakout Sessions Fiesta 1 Fiesta 2 Fiesta 3 Fiesta 4
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