Silicon Valley Heads for Germany as Governor Schwarzenegger Pushes for Cebit Trade Show Alliance
It was a poor turnout by Silicon Valley companies at a Wednesday event for California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger's alliance with Germany's Cebit trade show as a key partner.
Wednesday evening I was on the top floor of the Bank of America building in downtown San Francisco to celebrate the partnership between California and Germany's massive Cebit trade show.
This California-goes-to-Germany dinner was heavily populated by German and Californian government officials with very little private industry representation--except for Drew Clark, head of IBM's Venture Capital Group. That doesn't bode well for the California+Cebit push... but this might change if Governor Schwarzenegger gets involved, which has been up in the air. The organizers of the event didn't know if he would turn up until 24 hours before the start.
Thursday morning Governor Schwarzenegger will be in the heart of Silicon Valley at the headquarters of Intel, the world's largest chipmaker, hoping to encourage Silicon Valley companies to represent themselves at Europe's giant trade show Cebit, in Hanover, Germany. (California state travel funds are available for first time Cebit attendees.)
Earlier this year Cebit chose California as a partner. It is the first time that Europe's largest business-to-business technology fair has chosen a state rather than a country.
In 2008, France was Cebit's partner and Nicolas Sarkozy, the French president took part in opening ceremonies. (BTW California's economy is larger than that of France.) Last year Vladimir Putin, then president of Russia, Cebit's partner, took part in the trade fair. Cebit hopes that California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger will take part in its opening ceremonies during the first week of March 2009.
Here is a quick video of that event:
Google and Blip.tv
This evening I met with:
Michael Bowman Deputy Secretary for Communications bth.ca.gov
Conyers Davis Assistant Secretary for International Trade, Business, Transportation, and Housing Agency bth.ca.gov
Jose Juarez International Trade Specialist Peralta Community College District Eastbaycitd.org
Hartwig von Sab, Deutsche Messe AG Messe.de
Jim Charos, vice president Hannover Fairs USAhfusa.com
Bill Maile Director Communications Office of the State Chief Information Officer cio.ca.gov
CeBIT and State of California to Announce Joint Program Promoting US Innovations and Opportunities in EU Market
CeBIT to Unveil ``Webciety'' and Green IT Initiatives
WHO: -- Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, State of California
-- The Honorable Walter Hirche, Deputy Prime Minister and
Minister for Economics, Labor and Transport - Federal
State of Lower Saxony
-- Prof. Dr. August-Wilhelm Scheer, President - BITKOM
-- Ms. Deborah Conrad, VP and GM, Corporate Marketing Group - Intel Corporation
-- Mr. Ernst Raue, Member of the Board - Deutsche Messe
-- Mr. Dale Bonner, Secretary, Business, Transportation and
Housing Agency - State of California
WHEN: Thursday, October 2
WHERE: Intel Corporation
Robert Noyce Building's Executive Briefing Center
WHY: Following on the announcement of California as the official
partner state, CeBIT 2009 will unveil Webciety, a showcase
for ideas, innovations, and business models that will allow
integration of the social and technological advances of web
2.0 into business and company processes.
Press Release on CeBIT, June 2008 -- U.S. Commercial Service Sacramento
California's Selection Marks First Time a State, Not a Country, Will Serve as Partner
CeBIT, the world's leading trade fair for digital business solutions and information and communications technology (ICT), has announced that the State of California has been selected the Partner State for next year's event, which will run 3–8 March 2009 at the Hannover Fairgrounds in Hannover, Germany. The invitation to participate as partner was issued by CeBIT organizer Deutsche Messe AG and BITKOM (German Association for Information Technology, Telecommunications and New Media); and accepted by California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger.