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Expo Wars: IDG, Apple Return to Negotiations; Apple Will Attend SF


Macworld Expo organizer IDG has evidently decided that threatening to kick Apple out of Macworld San Francisco is not such a good organizing tactic after all.

Two days after telling the Boston Globe that if Apple won’t attend East Coast Macworlds, IDG won’t invite Apple to San Francisco, either, IDG’s Charlie Greco quickly backpedaled. In a statement to CNet and others, Greco announced, “IDG World Expo and Apple have…agreed to hold ongoing discussions about Apple’s role in upcoming East Coast Macworld events.” (Sounds wise, huh?)

At this point, the most likely scenario seems to be that Apple never intended to drop Macworld Boston, but instead, even if they were genuinely unhappy with the move from New York, staged this high-publicity battle with IDG in order to pressure the Expo organizer to find ways to cut Apple’s cost of attendance. My bet: Apple will show at Macworld New York 2003 and Boston 2004, but with a overall-cheaper presence. Then again, Steve is not one to do anything on the cheap, so Apple may do things the way it always has and look to IDG to cut corners alone.

By Jason O'Grady

Founded the PowerPage in 1995.