IDG World Expo also used the Town Hall meeting to announce that registration is now open for the 2010 event and attendees can register for a free exhibits pass by going here. Next year’s Macworld Conference & Expo is scheduled to take place Jan. 4-8, 2010, at San Francisco’s Moscone Center.

"Macworld has thrived for 25 years due to the strong support of tens of thousands of members of the Mac community worldwide," says Paul Kent, vice president and general manager, Macworld Conference & Expo. “While there is no question that Macworld is going to evolve and change in 2010, we will continue to build great shows that are worth everyone’s time and money. As part of this commitment to the Mac community, we wanted to share our thoughts and ideas for future Macworld events and hear ideas and suggestions from our attendees. We got some incredible feedback and are already at work implementing ideas for 2010.”

He says that the more than 400 Mac faithful in attendance at the Town Hall event, about half of whom said they had been to Macworld 10 or more times, participated in a lively and positive dialogue about the future of the event. Members of the Mac industry press also expressed their opinions with regard to the importance of Macworld for the community:

"Macworld Expo is of huge importance to the Mac ecosystem of attendees, vendors, speakers and media,” said Shawn King of Your Mac Life. “Never has the cliché ‘the show must go on’ been more apropos.”

"Macworld Expo occupies a key role in the smooth functioning of the Macintosh industry for tens of thousands of individuals, thousands of businesses and hundreds of exhibitors,” says Adam Engst, TidBITS. “Whether or not Apple participates in the future, it's essential that the Macintosh world have a central meeting place for professional networking, support and development."

IDG World Expo also emphasized the value of face-to-face meetings and reiterated that it is fully committed to continuing to support the hundreds of companies and developers that make up the Mac ecosystem.

“The rich ecosystem of attendees, developers, media and many others relies on Macworld in a variety of ways to further their businesses and careers,” says Kent. “We are at the start of a new era, developing an event that will continue to foster business, social networking and professional development for all members of the Mac community. We know that in a few years, we will look back at 2009 as the year that provided us with a terrific opportunity to effect many positive changes at Macworld, and helped us create a great new event that thrived in 2010 and beyond.”

Mac enthusiasts can continue to submit their ideas and suggestions at suggestionbox@macworld2010.com .