Macworld Conference & Expo Celebrates 24th Successful Year

2008 Event Had 10 Percent More Attendees and 475 Exhibitors

FRAMINGHAM, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--IDG World Expo today announced the successful completion of the 24th Macworld Conference & Expo®, which drew 10 percent more attendees than the 2007 event, featured hundreds of new product announcements, and hosted 475 technology companies that filled the Moscone Center. Next year’s Macworld Conference & Expo is scheduled to take place January 5-9, 2009 at Moscone Center in San Francisco.

“Macworld has truly become a central place where attendees can learn, network and do business every year. Our goal is to make each show better than the last, and we’re thrilled that we achieved that goal with this year’s event.”

“This year’s event included great enhancements with more exhibits and conference programming, and attendees responded very enthusiastically,” said Paul Kent, vice president, IDG World Expo. “Macworld has truly become a central place where attendees can learn, network and do business every year. Our goal is to make each show better than the last, and we’re thrilled that we achieved that goal with this year’s event.”

The editors of Macworld magazine sought out the most innovative products at this year’s Macworld Conference & Expo and selected eleven products that highlighted the commitment Macintosh developers have for the platform. Winners of the Best of Show Awards included: Photoshop Elements – Adobe; MacBook Air – Apple; Guitar Hero III – Aspyr; BusySync – BusySync; Eye-Fi card – Eye-Fi; Flow – GridIron Software; Dictate – MacSpeech; NEC MultiSync LCD3090WQXi – NEC; OmniFocus – Omni Group; Parallels Server – SWSoft; and VectorDesigner – TweakerSoft.

“Every year Macworld Conference and Expo is a showcase for the most innovative new technologies on the planet, and this year was no exception,” said Chris Breen, Senior Editor, Macworld Magazine. “We saw numerous mind-blowing new products from companies large and small. It goes to show you just how creative and innovative the entire market surrounding Apple really is.”

The conference program featured more than 200 Mac industry luminaries who addressed some of the most popular Mac topics in standing-room-only sessions. Highlights of the conference program included: new two-day training classes on Final Cut Studio, Aperture, Adobe™ Creative Suite and Filemaker; a session exploring Apple’s new Mac OS X version 10.5 Leopard operating system; new MacIT sessions specifically for IT professionals deploying Apple technology; the exciting debut of “A Day At The Office: Microsoft® Office 2008”; and the enhanced Macworld Educator Academy. This year’s Macworld also featured significant new show features, including a live Podcast Studio, an enhanced Digital Photography Experience and a state-of-the-art music studio.

For more information about Macworld Conference & Expo, please visit www.macworldexpo.com.

About Macworld Conference & Expo

Owned and produced by Framingham Mass.-based IDG World Expo, Macworld Conference & Expo is the world's most comprehensive Macintosh OS event. Macworld Conference & Expo showcases products and services for professionals involved in media and creative content development for corporate and home applications, as well as prosumers using the Mac at home. Macworld Conference & Expo brings together the loyal base of Mac OS audiences in creative services, education, application development, entertainment, small office/home office and Internet-based environments. Macworld Conference & Expo offers professionals and prosumers alike the opportunity to discover the latest developments and hottest products these markets offer. For more information or to register for the event, please visit the Web site at www.macworldexpo.com, or call (800) 645-EXPO. For exhibiting opportunities, please contact Annie Rice McKnight at [phone] or [e-mail] or Ron Moreau at [phone] or [e-mail]. For sponsorship opportunities contact Ellen Boland at [phone], or [e-mail].

About IDG World Expo

IDG World Expo (www.idgworldexpo.com) is a leading producer of tradeshows and events for professionals and consumers seeking world-class education, peer-to-peer networking and one-stop comparison shopping. IDG World Expo's portfolio of conferences and events includes Entertainment For All™ (E For All™), E3 Media & Business Summit, GreenXchange Xpo™, LinuxWorld Conference & Expo®, Macworld Conference & Expo® and Next Generation Data Center™ (NGDC™). IDG World Expo is a business unit of IDG, the world's leading technology media, research and event company.