Only the more grizzled members of San Francisco's press corp even remember Comdex. The once-legendary — and infamous — tech expo was hot well into the '90s, but it rapidly fell to pieces as it overexpanded. As desperate gadget hawkers tried to lure attendees to see their wares, they hired comely "booth babes" to staff their exhibits. TechCrunch40, the Web 2.0 startup conference organized by TechCrunch editor Michael Arrington and entrepreneur Jason Calacanis, is infinitely smaller than Comdex ever was. But the comparison is still apt. Bypassing Comdex's successful years, TechCrunch40 is going straight for the seedy, desperate late stage of Comdex, as these two short-shorts-wearing publicity-mongers prove. (Photo by Myles Weissleder)

Alan Meckler, CEO of Internet.com, started a blog fairly recently and is writing quite a bit about his primary competitor, Fred Rosen (the CEO of Key3Media, which produces Comdex.) [Ed. notedoes Meckler's attorney know he has a blog?] From Meckler's CEO blog: "Well Cap'n [Fred Rosen]your legal machinations will put us in the news and help ensure our victory. So bring it on and make my day! You and your crew continue to demonstrate why your company is in bankruptcy. Please keep the steady course into the iceberg field! Please continue to destroy Comdex." Another reason why NY is better than San Francisco: our leftover dot com CEOs are far more entertaining.
Comdex is desperate [CEO Weblog: Alan Meckler]