DEMO Spring 2011 starts off with a bang

The DEMO Spring 2011 conference in Palm Desert, Calif., has officially begun.

The conference kicked off with a welcoming reception and viewing party for the Oscars award ceremony last night in Palm Desert. Representatives from more than 60 companies — many of which are launching their products officially at DEMO — made an appearance at the reception.

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And they’re making the most of the location — whether it’s cruising in a boat out on the host resort’s lake or checking out some of the more ridiculous restaurants in the area. Palm Desert was surprisingly chilly throughout the day, but it looks like it will warm up along with the conference — which begins its company presentations tomorrow morning.

Be sure to check out VentureBeat throughout Monday and Tuesday for wall-to-wall coverage of the DEMO conference. More than 25 companies are either launching or unveiling a new product at the conference tomorrow. Guest speakers include Cisco’s head security expert Tom Gillis. George Hu, executive vice president of platform and marketing for Salesforce — a DEMO alumnus — and Jake Mintz, co-founder of social information sharing application Bump, will also speak at the conference tomorrow.

[Photos by Stephen Brashear/New Media Synergy]