29 March 2008

 

Gnomedex and Twitter

Many Apple laptops at Gnomedex 2006: Bay Auditorium panorama

It looks like Chris Pirillo's Gnomedex conference will take place at the end of August in Seattle again this year (the best time of year in this part of the world). I hope to be able to go—I participated but could not attend in 2007. Chris makes an interesting point in his post about how:

Positive or negative, Twitter fuels groupthink. [...] Handling 350+ special interest groups simultaneously when they have a direct line to the rest of the world is a completely new challenge.

Gnomedex is an unusual tech conference. It's smaller and less expensive than most, more broad-ranging, yet it attracts a more hard-core techie crowd than, say, Northern Voice here in Vancouver. Gnomedex has a different vibe every year, driven by whatever currents are pushing the web community at the time. Despite my absence last summer, I felt something a little off in 2007 from reports—perhaps in part because of a disconnect between that Twitter groupthink and the structure of the meeting.

Chris, Ponzi, Stuart, and crew are surely thinking of new ways to run the show in 2008. We'll see what that brings.

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23 February 2008

 

Northern Voice 2008 main conference day photos

Here's the last batch of my photos from the Northern Voice conference:

Quick 'n' dirty Mullenweg keynote panorama Northern Voice 2008 - Matt Mullenweg Northern Voice 2008 - Matt Mullenweg Northern Voice 2008 - Matt Mullenweg Northern Voice 2008 - Matt Mullenweg Northern Voice 2008 - Matt Mullenweg Northern Voice 2008 - Matt Mullenweg Northern Voice 2008 - Matt Mullenweg Northern Voice 2008 - Matt Mullenweg Northern Voice 2008 - Matt Mullenweg Northern Voice 2008 - Matt Mullenweg Northern Voice 2008 - Matt Mullenweg Northern Voice 2008 - Matt Mullenweg Northern Voice 2008 - Matt Mullenweg Northern Voice 2008 - Matt Mullenweg Northern Voice 2008 - Matt Mullenweg Northern Voice 2008 Northern Voice 2008 - Matt Mullenweg Northern Voice 2008 - Matt Mullenweg Northern Voice 2008 - Matt Mullenweg Northern Voice 2008 - Matt Mullenweg Northern Voice 2008 - Lisa, Tod, Beth Northern Voice 2008 - Matt Mullenweg Northern Voice 2008 - Matt Mullenweg Northern Voice 2008 - Matt Mullenweg Northern Voice 2008 - Matt Mullenweg Northern Voice 2008 - Matt Mullenweg Northern Voice 2008 - Matt Mullenweg Northern Voice 2008 - Matt Mullenweg Northern Voice 2008 - Matt Mullenweg Northern Voice 2008 - Matt Mullenweg Northern Voice 2008 - Lobby Northern Voice 2008 - Lobby Northern Voice 2008 - Lobby Northern Voice 2008 - Lobby Northern Voice 2008 - Break tables Northern Voice 2008 - Break tables Northern Voice 2008 - Break tables Northern Voice 2008 - Forestry hallway Northern Voice 2008 - Ads and blogging Northern Voice 2008 - Ads and blogging Northern Voice 2008 - Ads and blogging Northern Voice 2008 - Ads and blogging Northern Voice 2008 - Ads and blogging Northern Voice 2008 - Ads and blogging Northern Voice 2008 - Ads and blogging Northern Voice 2008 - Ads and blogging Northern Voice 2008 - DaveO Northern Voice 2008 - DaveO Northern Voice 2008 - DaveO Northern Voice 2008 - DaveO Northern Voice 2008 - DaveO Northern Voice 2008 - DaveO Northern Voice 2008 - DaveO Northern Voice 2008 - XO Laptop Northern Voice 2008 - WordPress dudes Northern Voice 2008 - Through the gap Northern Voice 2008 - Struts Northern Voice 2008 - XO laptop Northern Voice 2008 - WordPress dudes Northern Voice 2008 - Breaks Northern Voice 2008 - Breaks Northern Voice 2008 - Buttons Northern Voice 2008 - Free Geek Northern Voice 2008 - Lignum Northern Voice 2008 - Non-profits Northern Voice 2008 - She blinded me Northern Voice 2008 - Ceiling Northern Voice 2008 - Ceiling Northern Voice 2008 - Cogdog Northern Voice 2008 - Rob Cottingham Northern Voice 2008 - Crisis blogging Northern Voice 2008 - Crisis blogging 2 Northern Voice 2008 - Chemo hair Northern Voice 2008 - Dating online in Vancouver Northern Voice 2008 - Dating online in Vancouver 3 Northern Voice 2008 - Dating online in Vancouver 2 Northern Voice 2008 - Wrapup Northern Voice 2008 - Wrapup 2 Northern Voice 2008 - Wrapup 3

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22 February 2008

 

MooseCamp 2008 photos

Here are my latest photos from MooseCamp, which was the first day of Northern Voice. I've also posted some wacky night pictures from the way home.

At MooseCamp I had a chance to try out a Nikon D3 camera belonging to Matt Mullenweg. It's extremely impressive, probably the most solidly built camera I've ever held. But it is freaking huge—more massive than some medium-format cameras, I think. In contrast, John Biehler's new MacBook Air is shockingly light. Hold one and you'll understand what the fuss is about.

MooseCamp 2008 - The Millers MooseCamp 2008 - Voxant MooseCamp 2008 - Voxant MooseCamp 2008 - Voxant MooseCamp 2008 - Voxant MooseCamp 2008 - Voxant MooseCamp 2008 - Voxant MooseCamp 2008 - The Lounge MooseCamp 2008 - The Lounge MooseCamp 2008 - Streaming video MooseCamp 2008 - Streaming video MooseCamp 2008 - Streaming video MooseCamp 2008 - Streaming video MooseCamp 2008 - Streaming video MooseCamp 2008 - Streaming video MooseCamp 2008 - Streaming video MooseCamp 2008 - Streaming video MooseCamp 2008 - Videoblogging MooseCamp 2008 - Videoblogging MooseCamp 2008 - Videoblogging MooseCamp 2008 - Videoblogging MooseCamp 2008 - PhotoCamp MooseCamp 2008 - PhotoCamp MooseCamp 2008 - PhotoCamp MooseCamp 2008 - PhotoCamp MooseCamp 2008 - PhotoCamp MooseCamp 2008 - Men's bathroom wall MooseCamp 2008 - PhotoCamp MooseCamp 2008 - PhotoCamp MooseCamp 2008 - PhotoCamp MooseCamp 2008 - PhotoCamp MooseCamp 2008 - PhotoCamp MooseCamp 2008 - PhotoCamp MooseCamp 2008 - PhotoCamp MooseCamp 2008 - PhotoCamp MooseCamp 2008 - PhotoCamp MooseCamp 2008 - WordPress session MooseCamp 2008 - MacBook Air MooseCamp 2008 - WordPress session MooseCamp 2008 - WordPress session MooseCamp 2008 - WordPress session MooseCamp 2008 - WordPress session MooseCamp 2008 - WordPress session MooseCamp 2008 - WordPress session MooseCamp 2008 - The Millers MooseCamp 2008 - WordPress session MooseCamp 2008 - Cogdog MooseCamp 2008 - Thanks from Boris MooseCamp 2008 - Thanks from Boris Post-MooseCamp pub night Post-MooseCamp pub night Post-MooseCamp pub night Post-MooseCamp pub night Post-MooseCamp pub night Post-MooseCamp pub night

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21 February 2008

 

Northern Voice TikiCamp photos

It wasn't really called TikiCamp, but the Northern Voice opening tiki dinner at the Waldorf Hotel in Vancouver was a ton of fun. Here are my pictures:

Northern Voice tiki dinner 2008 Northern Voice tiki dinner 2008 Northern Voice tiki dinner 2008 Northern Voice tiki dinner 2008 Northern Voice tiki dinner 2008 Northern Voice tiki dinner 2008 Northern Voice tiki dinner 2008 Northern Voice tiki dinner 2008 Northern Voice tiki dinner 2008 Northern Voice tiki dinner 2008 Northern Voice tiki dinner 2008 Northern Voice tiki dinner 2008 Northern Voice tiki dinner 2008 Northern Voice tiki dinner 2008 Northern Voice tiki dinner 2008 Northern Voice tiki dinner 2008 Northern Voice tiki dinner 2008 Northern Voice tiki dinner 2008 Northern Voice tiki dinner 2008 Northern Voice tiki dinner 2008 Northern Voice tiki dinner 2008 Northern Voice tiki dinner 2008 Northern Voice tiki dinner 2008 Northern Voice tiki dinner 2008 Northern Voice tiki dinner 2008 Northern Voice tiki dinner 2008 Northern Voice tiki dinner 2008 Northern Voice tiki dinner 2008 Northern Voice tiki dinner 2008 Northern Voice tiki dinner 2008 Northern Voice tiki dinner 2008 Northern Voice tiki dinner 2008 Northern Voice tiki dinner 2008 Northern Voice tiki dinner 2008 Northern Voice tiki dinner 2008 Northern Voice tiki dinner 2008 Northern Voice tiki dinner 2008 Northern Voice tiki dinner 2008 Northern Voice tiki dinner 2008 Northern Voice tiki dinner 2008 Northern Voice tiki dinner 2008 Northern Voice tiki dinner 2008 Northern Voice tiki dinner 2008 Northern Voice tiki dinner 2008 Northern Voice tiki dinner 2008 Northern Voice tiki dinner 2008 Northern Voice tiki dinner 2008 Northern Voice tiki dinner 2008 Northern Voice tiki dinner 2008 Northern Voice tiki dinner 2008 Northern Voice tiki dinner 2008 Northern Voice tiki dinner 2008 Northern Voice tiki dinner 2008 Northern Voice tiki dinner 2008 Northern Voice tiki dinner 2008 Northern Voice tiki dinner 2008 Northern Voice tiki dinner 2008 Northern Voice tiki dinner 2008 Northern Voice tiki dinner 2008 Northern Voice tiki dinner 2008 Northern Voice tiki dinner 2008 Northern Voice tiki dinner 2008 Northern Voice tiki dinner 2008 Northern Voice tiki dinner 2008 Northern Voice tiki dinner 2008 Northern Voice tiki dinner 2008 Northern Voice tiki dinner 2008 Northern Voice tiki dinner 2008 Northern Voice tiki dinner 2008 Northern Voice tiki dinner 2008 Northern Voice tiki dinner 2008 Northern Voice tiki dinner 2008 Northern Voice tiki dinner 2008 Northern Voice tiki dinner 2008 Northern Voice tiki dinner 2008 kk+ kriskrug Northern Voice tiki dinner 2008 Northern Voice tiki dinner 2008 Northern Voice tiki dinner 2008 Northern Voice tiki dinner 2008

More from the main event tomorrow and Saturday.

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28 January 2008

 

Help design this year's Northern Voice poster

Northern Voice Poster Draft (NEW UPDATE) at Flickr.comVancouver artist Basco5 is once again designing the fabulous poster for the upcoming fourth annual Northern Voice blogging and social media conference here in town. (Last year the organizers were kind enough to give me one of Basco5's big 2007 posters, which now hangs in our bedroom.)

This year, Basco5 and the NV crew would like your input to help design the poster, so head on over to Flickr and leave a comment if you have ideas or suggestions.

I already like this year's tiki text/"squishy volcano" look.

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17 January 2008

 

Come to Northern Voice 2008

Why we blog at Flickr.comI realized recently that I haven't mentioned next month's fourth annual Northern Voice blogging, podcasting, and general Internet fun-time conference here in Vancouver. It takes place just over a month from now, February 22 and 23 (a Friday and Saturday) at the UBC Forestry Sciences Centre.

If you're not normally the sort to attend geeky tech conferences (well, and if you are, for that matter), this is one you should go to, because it's friendly, cheap ($60 Cdn for two days, as opposed to thousands of dollars for some events), and fun. There are always plenty of both new bloggers and experienced types around, from all over the Pacific Northwest and elsewhere. It's well organized. Plus, the location is fantastic.

In 2005 and 2006, I both attended and spoke at Northern Voice, but in 2007 I had to miss it because of my first of many cancer surgeries. I'm planning to be there this year, but purely as an attendee who'll take lots of photos.

My wife, who went last year, is more involved this time, helping to organize the Thursday-night gala. You should sign up and come along too.

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08 November 2007

 

Winer's wisery

Dave Winer has a good point about why most conferences suck:

...if you want to have a truly useful conference that everyone gets something out of, structure it so that everyone has something to do at all times. Hopefully things that involve other people or the venue, if not, what's the point of going somewhere to do this stuff?

He's had a lot of interesting things to say recently, such as about Google ("...one thing they don't have in huge supply at Google is humility [...] the number one law of software, of course is Murphy's Law. And one of the big things it teaches is humility...") and how technology companies use the word open ("...they just serve someone's interest without thinking about the users' interest (at best) or counter to the users' interest (at worst)...").

Winer has been around the industry a long time. He's a controversial guy within it, but I think his experience has given him some wisdom about it too.

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