Service Providers

Let service providers sponsor the presenters
Differentiate between presenting entrepreneurs (with services) versus "Service Providers" looking for new clients
Monitor ratio of service providers
Openly disclose the breakdown of service providers, banks, lawyers, and investors who attend.
Realize that funding will buy you resources later, including:
Resources are legal assistance, bankers, accountants, hosting providers, hardware vendors, software engineers, graphics artists, and development companies, etc.
If your business model is good enough and illustrates a strong revenue model, those "service-provider" resources will invest "in-kind" with out any hesitation.
Let the companies who want access to the start-ups pay the bulk of the costs, not the starving entrepreneur.
Charge the service providers advertising to pay for the online resources.

Don't be consumed with service provider needs/sponsors and the VC’s
Don’t hold a service provider fest
Don't promote the event as "investment pitch" if it's a "service auction"
Don't let service providers attend for a lower rate.
Don't "pimp" the entrepreneurs.
Don't provide window-dressing events or target galleries for service providers.