At precisely 8:34 a.m. yesterday, a rainbow-coloured hot-air balloon launched itself into the crystal blue Nevada sky, heralding the arrival of Corel Corp. of Ottawa at the 1998 version of Comdex, the largest computer trade show on the planet.

The Corel balloon joined other airborne dirigibles: balloons advertising Sanyo and Fuji had been aloft since the previous day, all of them vying for the attention of the 250,000 computer equipment buyers, resellers, distributors, and others who have taken over Las Vegas this week.

There are about 2,400 firms here hawking their wares, including Corel and about 50 other Canadian companies and, for each and every one of them, marketing and visibility are the top priorities.

There is not an inch of space in the city near the three convention centres here that does not contain eye-grabbing marketing materials. Every corner of all the town's taxis contain someone's corporate logo. Even the hotel pass keys urge you to visit this firm's booth or that firm's hospitality suite.

The Corel balloon was just the first part of that firm's marketing strategy for the first day of this five-day geekfest.

As few hours later, in a hot, cramped meeting room on the second floor of the Las Vegas Convention Centre, Corel CEO Michael Cowpland unveiled the next version of his firm's flagship software suite. Dubbed WordPerfect Office 2000 -- a name intentionally chosen for its marketing potentials against its chief competitor, Microsoft Office 2000.

Microsoft, so far, says it won't try and stop Corel from using the name. "In the minds of most consumers, the term Office 2000 will be associated with the product that most of them will know, which is Microsoft's Office," said Anne McKeon, Microsoft Canada's product manager for Office 2000. "I haven't heard of anything we plan to do about it."

Corel's decision to rename its software package was made months ago, insiders say, to coincide with greater compatibility between its product and Microsoft's.

Whatever the reason, it's a dumb name, says Naseem Javed, author of the book Naming for Power and president of ABC Namebank International. "I think it will cause a similarity conflict and confusion in the marketplace. Copycating is not a good strategy," Mr. Javed says.

However, Corel is hoping a number of innovations will make it easier to use than its predecessor. One of those innovations is a piece of software called Trellix 2.0. which allows users of WordPerfect Office 2000 to publish their documents to the World Wide Web without requiring complicated HTML or other programming.

Trellix 2.0 is the product of Trellix Corp. of Waltham, Mass. Its founder is a fellow named Dan Bricklin, who joined Mr. Cowpland at the Corel press conference.

The innovations of Trellix are noteworthy, to be sure, but in a conferences filled with innovative niche products, Corel added, in Mr. Bricklin, the lustre of a geek celebrity to heighten interest in the unveiling of WordPerfect Office 2000.

To the rest of the world, Mr. Bricklin's attendance would have gone unnoticed, but here, among the world's largest collection of code warriors, hackers, and geeks, his attendance is significant. Mr. Bricklin, you see, invented the world's first spreadsheet for the PC, VisiCalc. It was the PC's first-ever killer application and its arrival on the market in the early 1980s gave people a reason to buy personal computers and a reason for companies to make them. It also ensured Mr. Bricklin's place among other PC visionaries such as Microsoft's Bill Gates.

While Corel can bring significant resources to its marketing efforts here, other Canadian firms are relying on some federal government programs to make their entree into this noisy, busy environment.

Optimum Technology of Kanata, Ont., for instance, is a small firm that lists among its customers a who's who of Silicon Valley North. Organizations like Nortel, Mitel, and the federal Department of Defence use its software to help produce real-time reports about their businesses.

Optimum, though, wants to crack the lucrative U.S. market and, with the help of the Departments of Foreign Affairs and International Trade (DFAIT), has commandeered a tiny corner of the Canada pavilion in the midst of the trade show floor at the Sands Expo. and Convention Centre.

There are 20 firms located within this Canada stand, most of them young up-and-comers looking to reach into bigger markets.

Here, too, marketing is the key and DFAIT officials have tried to provide each of the 20 firms in its pavilion with some Comdex savvy.

The participating firms pay a fee for their floor space -- Optimum paid $5,200 for a space the size of a small office -- while DFAIT uses its $40,000 show budget for pre-show training; bringing in consultants who can help these young firms maximize their presence at Comdex. They learn, among other things, how to make pre-show sales calls and how to follow up after the placards are packed away. DFAIT's consultants also prepare the firms for the actual show, giving them tips on booth setup and show marketing.

Yesterday, DFAIT held a press conference with Kim Campbell, the former prime minister and current Canadian consul general in Los Angeles. Her role, and the role of DFAIT officials here, is to be a facilitator, to bring Canadian inventors together with American enterpreneurs.

"Probably, as much, or more, than any other kind of industry, the disconnect between the skills and talent to make your product and the kinds of skill to run a business is the greatest." Ms. Campbell said.

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