Web 2.0 Summit. Still solid.

Rumors have been flying about the beginning of the end of the web 2.0 Summit, the super hi-profile, $3750 a seat, trade show in SF.
It was kinda like a run of hi-end performers pushing the bar higher to take on this valuable ground of being The trade show of reference in the Internet industry, like Comdex was for long in the software age.

John Battelle's Conversational Marketing was great and TechCrunch 40 simply excellent and... different. Web 2.0 Summit remains the only trade show where you get to meet Ruppert Murdoch, Steve Ballmer and Meg Whitman and a bunch of other high execs who are no longer part of every shows.

Matter of fact there is no winner. Not one single trade show you must attend as those are trying to take a differentiated position. John Batelle's being oriented to marketing, he will have to consider either a commercial rendezvous for prospects and existing customers or extend beyond his own company. He's very smart and I'm sure next year will be interesting.
I will definitely attend again TC40. Positioned to startups and entrepreneurs, it's a great place to meet new people and get a flavor of coming cool stuff. Besides, Mike's energy and passion are genuine and very viral.
Web 2.0 Summit is, probably because of the outrageous price to attend, becoming a large corporation show. And that's not an issue as most startups need to evolve within those big guys.
Business development, M&A or simply trend informations or market analysis are key for startups.

Speaking of market analysis, here's Morgan Stanley's latest report. A must read.