Tech Sponsors Return to Beleaguered Data Conference in Indiana
Despite the bruising defeat of Duke over Wisconsin in the NCAA men’s basketball tourney in Indiana last night, there is one bright spot in the Midwest today. Sponsors are returning to the IndyBigData Conference, an Indianapolis event that was almost left for dead after the backlash against a controversial Indiana law compelled several firms including Amazon to pull out.
“We were disappointed when the first sponsor left, but then when the next went and the next went we realized, ‘Oh my gosh, we’ve got to say something,’ ” said Christine van Marter, CEO of Indiana startup Conference Ventures, which is putting on the Indy Big Data show in May. “This is having a direct and immediate impact on us now.” The conference company used social media to petition Indiana government to alter a new law that was deemed discriminatory.
Now that the law has been changed, a bunch of sponsors have returned to the event. Cloudera, HortonWorks, Information Builders, Platfora, EMC, Pivotal and Isolan — firms that help enterprises store, manage and analyze data — are back, according to Ms. van Marter. It’s the first conference the young Indianapolis firm will get off the ground, making the potential damage of the sponsor exodus that much more potent had they not returned.
