Code Conference 2021: The Beginnings of a Tech Conference Comeback - Bloomberg

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Hello, this is Ed Ludlow writing this week from sunny Beverly Hills, where I attended a tech conference during a pandemic (I feel fine), but first…

Today’s top tech news:

Health Code

Tech conferences are back—cautiously.

The return to conferences started earlier this year in Miami, with a confab of the crypto faithful that made headlines for Covid contagion. Now, techies have returned in force to one of the Los Angeles area’s glitziest hotels, this time for a tantalizing glimpse of post-Covid normalcy.

I’m talking about this week’s Code Conference, which cost between $7,000 and $9,500 for the 600 people who snagged a ticket. Meanwhile, online streamers could pay $125 for the privilege of hearing from heavyweights like Elon Musk, Satya Nadella and the chair of the Securities and Exchange Commission. (In the name of disclosure, Bloomberg is also in the conference hosting business.)

Logistically, much of the event remained the same as in the Before Times: For example, the tradition of post-conference poker games had returned. A New York Times reporter apparently even got kicked out of one. And tech folks were again wandering the hotel corridors, sampling premium coffees, protein bars and green juices (my favorite: the “antivirus,” with leafy greens, ginger and beets).

But if what I witnessed at Code is any indication of events to come, the casual mingling and boozing of conferences past is gone—and there’s no clear path to getting it back.

Covid precautions loomed over the proceedings in a way that was both comforting and unsettling. Each attendee had to hold proof of vaccination through a specific app and take a rapid test each time they returned to the venue. On arrival you were led away from the main ballroom out to an outside courtyard for the dreaded swabbing. Red wrist bands were given out to those deemed “all clear.” (Miraculously, everyone was.) Rather than ask people to wait in lines, gift bags will be FedExed starting Monday. And somewhat infuriatingly, there were more hand sanitizing stations than electrical outlets for a reporter low on battery.

Attendance at the conference’s actual panels felt modest compared with the pre-pandemic events I’ve attended at the Beverly Hilton. Chairs in the hotel’s ballroom were spaced out and crowds were thin, except during a few events. The European Union’s antitrust chief, Margrethe Vestager, for example, drew the longest lines at mic stands of those desperate to ask a question. Musk and Salesforce.com Inc.’s Marc Benioff drew comparatively few.

As Americans navigate their way back to in-person events, the rules surrounding these gatherings are high-stakes, complicated and controversial. Should there be vaccine mandates? Testing protocols? More ventilation? Benioff, apparently, pushed Code Conference organizer Kara Swisher to enact more safeguards, communicating via a barrage of text messages. On stage, he called himself a “pro-tester.”

Still, there were occasional flashes of what life could look like beyond Covid for the conference set. Code still featured lunchtime whiskey tasting, happy hours, power lunches and night caps. And for those who conferenced too hard, there were also IV treatments available on closing day, delivering a cocktail of ascorbic acid and zinc. This is still Beverly Hills, after all. — Ed Ludlow

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China’s alcohol-soaked office culture has fueled a #MeToo outcry at companies like Alibaba and Didi. Many are now updating their employee guidelines to tackle sexual harassment.