Tech Stars to Gather at BancBoston Conference

For a look at the week's schedule, click here.

SAN FRANCISCO -- Of the more than 320 companies expected to present at BancBoston Robertson Stephens' 16th annual Technology Conference here, some won't be as much basking in the spotlight as put on the spot. Running from Feb. 22 through Feb. 25 at the San Francisco Ritz-Carlton, BancBoston expects more than 2,000 institutional investors to attend -- a number that rivals the turnout at Goldman Sachs' lavish tech conference earlier this month in New York City. The companies presenting will cover most tech sectors.

With a price war raging in the chip market, investors in semiconductors will be looking to see which of the top companies is best positioned to maintain healthy margins over the long haul. The big three -- Texas Instruments (TXN), Intel (INTC) and National Semiconductor (NSM) -- will all be giving their spiel.

Among software companies, who's bigger than Microsoft (MSFT)? Joachim Kempin, original equipment manufacturer senior vice president, is expected to represent the software giant. And the company may have a lot of explaining to do as Microsoft's stock price continues its steady descent. It has dropped over the past couple of weeks to the lowest level since Jan. 15.

Speaking of explaining, investors may also pile in to hear how Denver-based enterprise software company J.D. Edwards (JDEC) plans to get its business back on track. J.D. Edwards' recent earnings preannouncement caused concern on Wall Street, as did its purchase of a small, privately held company to boost its supply-chain management offerings.

And among Internet companies, top presenters will include America Online (AOL), recently dethroned as the leading Internet access provider in the U.K. after ISPs there started offering free Internet access. AOL will have to convince investors it can compete and that its business model is still a winning one.

The interest in AOL will probably spill over into auctioneer eBay's (EBAY) presentation on rumors that AOL would take a stake in eBay. AOL and eBay refused to discuss the rumors before, but that won't stop investors from trying to glean some hints of whether a deal is in the works.

Notably absent from the conference will be giants such as Dell (DELL), Sun Microsystems (SUNW) and IBM (IBM). But for investors seeking information on smaller companies with growth potential, the full schedule could hold promise. For those who can't attend, TheStreet.com's team of reporters will.

Look for morning and afternoon conference notebooks, as well as daily features focusing on a presenting company.

Sunday, Feb. 28

Random Walk
A Professor Who Does Some Investing Gives His Impressions of the Conference

Friday, Feb. 26

Notebook
Gruber Speaks Out on Tech

Thursday, Feb. 25

Lycos Says It'll Get the Votes
Bring on the Competition, Network Solutions Says

Notebooks
Cirrus Awaits a Recovery
J.D. Edwards Gets Honesty Points

Wednesday, Feb. 24

Exodus Builds Digital Fort Knox

Notebooks
CMGI Rocks 'Em at Robbie
Micron on the Mend
PeopleSoft Takes the Hard Line

Tuesday, Feb. 23

Notebooks
Rambus Confirms Intel Delay
Sterling Gets Some Respect

Monday, Feb. 22

Glitches Can't Stop Glaser

Notebooks
Infoseek Marketing Good to Go
Dallas Presses the iButton

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