Macworld 2011 to be 30-35 percent larger, host Featured Artists sessions

We're still pre-Thanksgiving, so we have a whole three months of holidays to get through, but it's never too early to start thinking about the next iteration of Macworld. Macworld 2011 is taking place next January 26-29 in San Francisco, and just like last year, TUAW will be there all week long with live streaming video, interviews aplenty, and your inside track on everything going down at the Expo.

This week, we prepared by talking to IDG General Manager Paul Kent, who's currently embroiled in a radio station battle of the bands poll with his band The Houserockers, and of course, getting things ready for the big show in January. He let us in on what to expect at the show next year -- hit the break to find out how much bigger he expects things to be, who else is coming, and what he expects attendees to be talking about this time around.

"The show is going to show strong growth over last year," Kent promises. Much of the story last year was about Apple's absence from the show for the first time. "Last year," says Kent, "it was a 'prove it to me that there's a reason to do this.'" But this year, the story seems to be that Macworld can both survive and thrive as a spotlight not on Apple's products but on the whole ecosystem around them. "You went out and bought an iPod, a Mac, an iPad," says Kent, "and now what? Macworld Expo is where you discover all the now whats."

Kent's expecting 30-35 percent more exhibitors than last year's show (close to 300 exhibitors total), and the entire event will take place completely in Moscone's new West Hall facility. The first floor will be the Expo floor, and the upper floors will have room for conferences, other exhibits, and an expanded Mobile App Showcase. That was one of our favorite parts of the show last year (though it was a little crowded, with indies, big app companies, and even one-man houses all squeezed in together), and Kent says demand for mobile has made them grow it out.

"Mobile is just so freakin' hot right now," says Kent. "Macworld is always like a mirror of what's going on in the broader products market," and while of course the Mac will be represented at Moscone, Kent expects there to be a lot of talk about Apple's more recent inventions as well. "Even in our IT conference, those guys are trying to figure out iPhones and iPads."

In terms of speakers and panels, Macworld has just introduced something called the "Featured Artist" sessions -- various creative luminaries in the Mac community will be on hand to talk about how they create art with Apple products. Artist Kyle Lambert and "Song a Day" musician Jonathan Mann will be in attendance, along with filmmaker Michael Koerbel and photographer Joseph O. Holmes. All four contributors will have a chance to get on stage and "just kind of show what they do and how they do what they do," says Kent. These sessions are designed to show how Apple's products can make really creative things happen. Kent says, "It's like, 'I was you not long ago, and because these products are so enabling, I was able to find some things that worked and I'd like to share how that works."

And, of course, there will be lots of talk around the show about brand new Apple products. Last year, the show featured lots and lots of iPad talk, even though the device was hard to find, and Kent promised that if Apple makes any announcements in January about an iPad 2, "you can be sure that it'll be a topic of conversation at Macworld."

The show definitely sounds like it'll be a lot of fun. Passes are on sale already, and even if you can't make out to San Francisco, we'll be there for sure, finding all the fun stuff. If you are coming out, we'll see you there in January!