[jlogic77]

I understand that they do have to charge money to attend the event and for the "demo" pit. The obvious reason is the money to cover expenses and profit, but another reason is to increase the barrier of entry with pricing.

They are becoming victims of their own success and have some need to keep the floodgates from coming down on them and taking away from the value they intend on delivering. Too many sponsors, too many products and an overloaded venue (which would also make their wifi gripe even worse) all would make the conference worse.

If they were truly out for the startups and themselves... turn this event into a funding opportunity, where a larger sum of the money is not just given to the winner, but turned into some sort of angel funding. Arrington and Calacanis are avid investors, so put some of these profits to a mutually beneficial cause. That would be a change to the model! Otherwise, they will turn into another DEMO.