Now that I got done with AlwaysON NYC - while blogging at a Brooklyn Cafe near my studio, I came across Jason Calacanis's post about the TechCrunch 20 conference he's helping to put together with TechCrunch. 

I began to wonder if the companies featured at AlwaysON, esp the new companies, had to pay in order to present at the conference:

"….It's wrong on so many levels (as a lot of folks have pointed out).

First, the best companies would never be able to afford that fee. This means the most promising companies who need the exposure the most–and who the audience would most want to see–never make it to the stage. When Kevin Rose started digg he was broke–he could NEVER have afforded demo. When I started Weblogs, Inc. with Brian we were really broke (in fact Brian had taken a second mortgage to build the company!)–we could never have afforded demo. I suspect that most of the great and up-and-coming Web 2.0 companies wouldn't have been able to cut that $20,000 check (or $12,000 as the case may be). I don't think a YouTube, TechMeme, Blogger, StumbleUpon, or CastFire could afford the ticket when they were starting up.

Second, even the good companies that make it to the stage have to spend around $20,000 to pay for their six minutes! What a rip-off."

Until I read Jason's post I had not even given it a thought - but maybe companies that are presenting at a conference need to pay for that.

Anyway, TechCrunch also announced the TechCrunch 20 Conference tonight - wish they were doing it in NYC (maybe they will down the line); seems there are several comments already.

One of the commenters said: "…The startups that are likely to be picked will probably be those of the well-connected entrepreneurs who know you or Jason personally (oh, wait, you call it a “committee”). So don’t make it sound like you are catering to the little guy in the garage ".

So, there's a concern the selection process will be biased.

I'm glad I went to AlwaysON, and that I got a press pass to cover it.