DEMOFall kicks off today, a showcase of about 70 companies who pay to present at the conference.

VentureBeat is a co-producer of the show and is also covering the announcements. So is this a type of pay-per-post arrangement except in name?

It's not clear. Anthony Ha, a VentureBeat reporter writes:

. . . VentureBeat's front page is plastered with our stories about launching companies. Dean Takahashi, Kim-Mai Cutler, and I have each written in-depth posts about some of the launches, and we're going to be covering many more over the next two days of the conference (which is co-produced by VentureBeat).

This is all part of a larger trend. Last week's Techcrunch 50 conference was covered exclusively by Techcrunch getting all the launch news first. Would Techcrunch have written about all those companies if it wasn't a Techcrunch co-produced event? Would VentureBeat have written about all the Demo companies if it wasn't a co-produced event? Clearly not.

Many media companies are being forced to look for additional revenue streams because advertising alone cannot support their editorial teams. Media companies producing conferences are becoming an important revenue stream, GigaOm, for example recently hosted its Mobilize conference.

No one can blame these excellent publications from seeking additional revenues to support their work. But surely such arrangements question their editorial integrity since their coverage of companies is not dependent on an editorial decision but on a financial relationship.

Do their readers care about such things? I guess we will find out.

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Please also see:

Issues When Media Companies Host Conferences