Competing startup-focused conferences DEMO and the upstart TechCrunch50 share a lot of similarities. They share a similar goal -- bring deserving startups some much-needed press. They even occur at the same time: DEMO takes place from September 7th to 9th in San Diego and TC50 is from September 8th to 10th in San Francisco.

One place the conferences differ significantly, however, is on the sponsor roster. DEMO is owned by IDG (disclosure: The Industry Standard is also owned by IDG) and TechCrunch50 is owned and run by TechCrunch editor Michael Arrington and bulldog aficionado Jason Calacanis, founder of several well-known companies in tech, including Weblogs, Inc. and Mahalo. Let's see what companies these conferences managed to snag as sponsoring "partners" (in order they are listed on DEMO and TC50's respective websites):

DEMO: Granite Financial Group, IDC Private Vendor Watch Service, Institute for Information Industry, MicrosoftStartupZone.com, PlugandPlayTechCenter.com, Porter Novelli, Qualcomm, Sun Startup Essentials, Mashable, PRNewswire, ReadWriteWeb, TechConfidential, TheDeal, Übergizmo, VCJ, and VentureBeat. (Update: A complete list of DEMO partners and sponsors appears at the end of this article)

TechCrunch50: Sequoia Capital, Google, Mayfield Fund, Microsoft, Clearstone Venture Partners, Fenwick & West LLP, Charles River Ventures, Perkins Coie, Yahoo, MSN Money, Founders Fund, Salesforce.com, MySpace, Norton, Thomson Reuters, and Seesmic.

On its face, TechCrunch50's partners' list seems more impressive, especially to hopeful startups. Besides having Internet giants Google and Yahoo on the list, Arrington and Calacanis have snagged some big VC firms that will make the TC50 a great networking event for entrepreneurs. Sequoia was the lead investor in Calacanis's Mahalo search engine and has invested in (and made serious money from) some of the biggest names in the Valley. Fenwick & West, one of the most well-known Valley law firms, is offering $10,000 off legal fees for one unfunded TC50 company's first round of financing.

Only one company -- Microsoft -- is represented on both lists.

Update: The complete list of DEMO sponsors and partners is on this page, and includes the following:

GFG Financial Group, IDC Private Vendor Watch Service, Institute for Information Industry, PlugandPlayTechCenter.com, Porter Novelli, Sun Startup Essentials, Qualcomm, MicrosoftStartupZone.com, Cooley Godward Kronish LLP, Connect Public Relations, Comerica Bank, Forum Nokia, NEC, Merrill Corporation, Silicon Valley Bank, UBS, VCNetwork, Angelsoft, IDG Ventures, OpSource, Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati, Arx, DataEssence, Ethos Networks, Sentrigo, Tufin Technologies, mPortico, Digsu.com, FunP, HomeIT.com, memode, More Management, ppolis, jMap.cc, Wacanai, GuidewireGroup, IDC, Israel Venture Association, GigaOM, Mashable, PR Newswire, ReadWriteWeb, TechConfidential, The Deal, Pulse 2.0, ubergizmo, VCJ, VentureBeat, Atlanta Venture Forum, Band of Angels, BoogarLists, Conference Guru, CornerstoneAngels, Emerging Tech Accelerator, CVCA, EyeToEye, Financing Partners, FundingUniverse, Golden Capital Venture Events, IVCA, Investors Cirle, Kansas Women's Business Center, Microarts Creative Agency, Missouri Venture Forum, National Venture Capital Association, GoldMail, Keiretsu Forum, Newfoundland and Labrador Angel Network, Rocky Mountain Venture Capital Association, OCVG, Tech Coast Angels, Start, wireless industry partnership, VentureDeal, New England Venture Network, Octane, SFNewTech, San Diego Venture Group, and the National Science Foundation. 

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