In the much publicized spat between Apple and IDG World Expos over the move of the East Coast show from New York City to Boston in 2004, there have been several developments: IDG announced the move to Boston, Apple announced it would not attend the Boston show and may not attend the 2003 New York show, IDG announced that Apple then wouldn’t be allowed to attend the San Francisco 2003 show, but later "took it back," saying that Apple would attend the San Francisco show. Apple added a new chapter to this saga today with the Officially Sanctioned Announcement from Cupertino™ that Apple would, in fact, be attending the San Francisco show, and that the company is "fully committed to making Macworld San Francisco a great experience for everyone."
Apple has also officially confirmed that Steve Jobs will do the keynote, and announced that Phil Schiller will be offering another keynote called "The Power of X" the next day.
On the other hand, Apple is still being vague about the 2003 New York show, and says that it is still in discussions with IDG about that event. From the press release, including the fluff quotes from Apple and IDG executives:
IDG World Expo and Apple® today confirmed Apple’s participation in Macworld Conference & Expo/San Francisco 2003, which will be held at San Francisco’s Moscone Center January 6-10, 2003.
Steve Jobs, Apple’s CEO, will deliver the keynote address on Tuesday, January 7, 2003 at 9:00 a.m. PST and Philip Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Product Marketing, will give a presentation on "The Power of X" on Wednesday, January 8, 2003 at 9:30 a.m. PST.
"We’ll be there, and we’re fully committed to making Macworld San Francisco a great experience for everyone," said Steve Jobs, Apple’s CEO.
"We’re thrilled with Apple’s enthusiastic support of Macworld San Francisco 2003 and look forward to another record-breaking crowd," said Charlie Greco, president and CEO of IDG World Expo.
Apple and IDG are still in discussions regarding Apple’s participation in Macworld New York in 2003.
You can find more information on the Macworld Conference & Expo, the official name of the event, at its Web site.
The Mac Observer Spin:
Hallelujah and praise the saints when they come marching in on a hoot and a holler with bells in their toes! Apple will be attending the West Coast show after all! We thought that had been settled last month, but concede that it might be a good thing for Apple to confirm it. This press release also serves to confirm and announce the keynotes from Messrs. Jobs and Schiller, but the whole "will they or won’t they be there" thing is hopefully a dead issue that can go back to behind closed doors where it belongs.